Balanced Part 1
by AWildJaxWrites
Summary: The third book in a series! Please read "How Dragons Fall in Love" and "Blood & Seawater" before reading this one! Convinced that Zuko has been brainwashed, Katara, Toph, and Sokka travel through the Earth Kingdom to figure out how to stop his impending wedding.
1. The Royal Guard

Suki had just finished the letter when there came a soft rapping against her door. She froze, her ears pricking to listen to the taps. A fan against the wood tattooed a sharp pattern and then ceased. By the time Suki made it to her door, she could only hear the soft swish of linen pants as the person walked swiftly away.

The Earth Kingdom princess had assumed - either in a fit of ignorance or manipulation - that the Kyoshi Warriors had been an honor guard for her daughter. They had been required to stay on at the palace, even as the princess and her daughter left to return to their city kingdom. Suki had only brought a small number of women with her, enough to help set up the training school and get Ty Lee settled. Not one of them had expected to linger here for any real length of time.

After a whole month, Suki and the other warriors were now too anxious to leave.

Whispers spiked through the palace, and the mutterings in the city were more incendiary. Before, there had been a noticeable presence of Earth Kingdom stock around as the colonists were repatriated. Now, that presence took on a more imperial stamp, disquieting the most forgiving city dweller.

The Fire Nation natives spoke of a more sinister colonizing force; where they had done it with honest warfare, the Earth Kingdom was using heinous politics. The air had turned sour, and residents born within the Earth Kingdom borders made sure to stay indoors at night.

Worst of them all, the Fire Nation citizens remarked, was the bootlicking, traitorous Fire Lord himself.

Someone had long since whispered to Suki how Zuko had previously feared assassination and would wander the halls at all hours, unable to sleep. Now, Zuko rarely ventured out into his gardens and never went into the city, but seemed unbothered by the hostility boiling outside of the wall.

His nights had not become any more peaceful, however.

Bells had been hung all over the palace, an over-enthusiastic gift from the princess's daughter. They clinked nigh constantly, but Zuko never seemed troubled by them during the day. When questioned about them, he remarked that it reminded him of his bride-to-be, who wore jangling threads on her wrists and ankles.

At night, the sounds of them must have threaded tendrils of disharmony in his head. Zuko often woke up at a late hour, screaming. It was mostly inarticulate, yet some of the other warriors had heard him call repeatedly for Katara. He would thrash at any who came close as if he were blind and could not differentiate friend from foe.

A servant would be called, jingling with some small piece of the princess's favor, and quiet the Fire Lord. In the morning, Zuko would have no recollection of the previous night.

This tapping that had come announced that Zuko had once again awoken. Suki opened the door to the darkened hall and hurried out, making sure to lock the door behind her. She knew that whoever had been rifling through her things probably had a key, but it would hopefully make them warier. Nothing had been amiss for the past week, but that could be only due to the snoop being more careful.

Suki padded quietly but with purpose down the hall, moving at the edge of a sprint. When she turned a corner, she could hear the screaming. Two other women suddenly flanked her and Suki examined them closely in the dim torchlight. Since their uniform could be so easily copied, they had begun doing simple, temporary changes to it. These two wore their makeup altered slightly, and Suki knew they were hers.

"Has anyone come?" Suki asked.

"No. We are keeping them away." The warrior on her right said. Suki nodded and they made their way to the screaming.

Two other warriors were already there, keeping Zuko in his room with their fans. His eyes rolled wildly in his head, and his hair was sticking to his sweat-slicked face.

"I need Katara!" He yelled. Suki frowned, watching her warriors circle Zuko as if he were a rabid animal.

She had sent three letters in the past two weeks but had gotten no reply. This next one would have to go out a different way.

"Zuko, if you need a healer, we can call for one," Suki said as she approached. Zuko whirled on her, staring at her but not seeing her.

"I need Katara!" He repeated and started to cry. She was able to get closer to him and gathered him in her arms.

"You need to tell me what's wrong. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong." Suki murmured as Zuko made croaking noises. At this point, his throat was shredded from his nights of screaming.

"It's in my head," Zuko whined.

"What is?"

"Him."

There was a clattering outside of the door, and Suki knew she had run out time.

"Who Zuko? Who?" She questioned urgently.

"The Traitor." Zuko managed as the warriors were pushed aside. A servant, jingling like a pampered house cat, shoved Suki away.

"Hush, sire. It's fine." He whispered and Zuko started to quiet. The man jingled and clinked as he ushered the subdued Fire Lord back to his bed. As Zuko clambered in, the man turned and glared at Suki.

"The Fire Lord is fine. You can leave now, guard." He stated sharply. Suki glared back as the other women gathered around her.

"Good night Zuko," Suki said, addressing him directly. But Zuko didn't reply, only whimpered as the servant pulled the blanket up under his chin. Suki sighed and walked out, trailing the other warriors. As she made her way back to her room, the women peeled off one by one and disappeared to their posts.

Suki had a letter to send.

She was at Iroh's rooms by dawn. Wanting to be discreet, Suki had chosen to wear plain clothes, looking much like another servant wandering down the halls. She had learned most of the routines in the palace and could avoid the people she found unreliable.

Iroh was not surprised to see her when he opened the door.

"I assume this is about my nephew?" He asked, weary, after closing the door behind her.

"When are you going to Ba Sing Se?" Suki asked instead.

"I was not planning on going at all." He answered. Suki turned and looked almost angrily at him.

"Let me rephrase that." She said and pulled her letter out of her pocket. "I need you to go to Ba Sing Se."


	2. Republic City

Katara's eyelids stuck together as she tried to open them. The air was muggy and thick, viscous enough to hold onto the pollen in the air and make a blanket of it. For the whole month she had been back in Republic City something disagreeable had been blooming. Pain blossomed in the front of her face and as soon as she shifted, Katara began coughing and hacking. Springtime outside of the Poles was always brutal, but this year her allergies seemed to be hitting harder.

Rolling onto her side, Katara grabbed a soiled handkerchief from the floor. Propping herself up, she spat a mouthful of mucus into the square and wadded it up. She tossed it back to the floor with a groan and fell onto her stomach.

Closing her eyes, Katara tried to rub the gunk off into the sheets. She gave up and sighed, letting her body relax into the mattress.

Then the screaming started.

Her eyes shot open at the first shriek. But Katara only rose slowly as the unending scream got louder as it passed through the room below her.

"GET BACK HERE!" Toph's voice boomed through the floorboards. The scream broke off into hoarse sobs.

"I'm sorry!" The voice was of the young woman, Penga, sounded high and frightened.

There was a loud crash, followed by many smaller clatterings, and then quiet. With a sigh, Katara heaved herself out of bed. She snorted thickly, trying to free an airway in her nose. Knowing that she would still need to steam her face like every other day this month, Katara just shuffled over to her vanity.

As she wafted her hands over the wash basin, her bedroom door opened. Sokka walked in and threw himself on her bed, pulling the blanket over him.

"You have your own bed." She said as the steam started to form.

"It's over the training room," Sokka replied and rolled over so his back was to her. "Plus you have more pillows."

Katara directed the steam into her nose and toward the back of her throat. The moisture caused her to have a coughing fit, which she used to dislodge the mucus in her chest. Her hacking was thick and wet.

"Oogie," Sokka muttered and shoved his head under Katara's pilfered pillows.

After spitting everything out and blowing her nose, Katara splashed tepid water on her face and pulled the small towel off the hook next to the mirror.

"How are you not full of crud?" Katara questioned as she patted her face dry.

"I'm not poisoned with spirit goo," Sokka answered, his voice muffled from under the pillows. Katara blew out a heavy breath through her nose as she looked at her hands. The purple had become more visible lately, and she could see the tinting at her nail beds.

"Have you heard from Pakku?" She asked as she hung up the towel. Sokka popped his head up and looked around.

"Paw-Paw? Nope." He said and then scooped the pillows together.

"He doesn't want you calling him that."

"You should know me well enough by now that that is exactly why I continue to do it."

Katara scoffed and examined her face in the mirror. She couldn't tell if she was being hyper-aware, but no one else seemed to notice the purple blush to the normally white sclera of her eyes.

Sokka, meanwhile, flopped himself up onto the pile of pillows like an otterseal sunning itself. Katara watched his reflection as he smiled, proud for some reason.

Another crash came from below and they both turned to the open door.

"What happened?" Katara questioned.

"Toph was altering Penga's shoes. Penga didn't like that and threw one at Toph, hitting her square in the face." Sokka answered.

"I do not want to be here today," Katara muttered. She went to her dresser and jostled out the middle drawer. In the humidity, everything seemed to stick a little. The wood made a shrieking groan as the drawer pulled against the runners. Katara winced.

"Let's go out then." Sokka offered and flopped gracelessly onto his back.

"Go where? The shops again?"

"I like the shops."

"I need to get dressed," Katara stated. Sokka burrowed into a nest of blanket and pillows. With a sigh, Katara closed the door to her room and peeled off her shift. Her body seemed to reflect the humid air and was always sticky with sweat.

"Have you heard from Aang?" Sokka asked loudly, but still heavily muffled.

"Not lately." Katara yanked on her tunic and started to do up the ties. Their separation had been difficult, for many reasons. Amaq had asked her to return with him to the North Pole, to sort out what to do next. Aang was taking Avil's egg to the Sun Warriors and offered a space on Appa's saddle. It had not been a real choice for her.

After finding out about her feelings for Zuko, Aang had turned solicitous. He had sent her small gifts while he was away. Letters came at first, as he discussed meeting with the Sun Warriors and leaving the egg there. Then there were the dried flowers and small shells. Nothing was written that might be construed as an attempt to win her back. Every note was kind and full of happy promises. Things would work out, she would get better, they would all be happy.

Someday.

Sokka had suggested that they go home to their father, help prepare for the wedding. Katara hadn't wanted to leave the Earth Kingdom.

Zuko had returned to the Fire Nation after the ceremony last month. Whispers made it through the White Lotus that important announcements would be made at the summer summit when the council met. The Beifongs, and a few other Earth Kingdom companies, were now being more insistent upon the South Pole for drilling rights. Oil was set to replace coal, and the meager surface oil ponds that dotted the Earth Kingdom wasn't enough.

Political pressure was mounting on the dual chiefs, which was another reason why Katara hadn't wanted to go to either place. Arnook was pushing for Amaq and Katara to make public their betrothal, despite both of them insisting that they hadn't gotten engaged.

The necklace was a contingency plan, in case of the worst.

Katara opened her door again once she had finished dressing. Sokka popped up from his grave with a gasp. Shaking her head, Katara walked out into the hall.

The hall was open on one side and ran around the diameter of the building. Every room shared an external wall and looked out onto the open space to peer below. Toph kept her bedroom on the second level, as well as her office. Katara had taken over a spare room, meant for guests but sparsely decorated. Sokka's room had been for storage, but Toph had her students clear it out and move the training equipment into the empty space of the women's dormitory on the first floor. The three students Toph had - Penga, the Dark One, and Ho Tun - had been together for years and all moved in together in the men's dormitory.

The students were, interesting.

Sokka trotted after Katara and they both walked down the stairs. The screaming and crying had long since stopped and the first floor was oddly quiet. It was also a mess.

Katara picked her way over fallen equipment and hunks of twisted metal. They made it into the cramped kitchen, where Sokka found green tea still in a chipped porcelain pot. He poured out two cups and Katara reheated them with her bending. The siblings walked over to the window at the far side of the kitchen, sipping their tea as they looked out.

Toph was calling out random names and each of the three students manipulated pig iron ingots. All of them looked intense, which made Penga stand out in her finery. Toph's complete opposite that one.

Ho Tun saw them staring and immediately started to blush. As he fumbled through his sets, Toph started to berate him and Sokka laughed.

"I can understand why you would want to get out." He remarked and took an audible sip of his tea.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara asked. Penga now looked around, trying to see what had distracted Ho Tun. As she made eye contact with Katara, she too turned bright red and her ingot fell to the ground.

Katara pulled a face as she turned and slunk away from the window. Sokka burst out laughing, but was silenced when a blob of iron hit him in the back of the head.

"OW!" He yelped, dropping his cup.

"You two walnuts need to GET OUT OF MY SCHOOL." Toph yelled. Katara snickered as she used her bending to pick up the spilled tea. Sokka, on the other hand, muttered curses as he gathered the pieces of his cup.

"Let's get out of here." Sokka said darkly, dumping the pieces into the rubbish bin.

Before they went out, Katara tied a length of cloth around her lower face. It hadn't rained recently, so there was a lot of the mysterious pollen in the air. After noticing her allergies, Toph had her students clean the school every day, but going outside was a gamble. Almost immediately after they stepped outside, Katara's eyes started to water.

"Is Amaq this sick?" Sokka asked as he closed the gate.

"I don't think so. He says he's been going to the Oasis a lot. And he hasn't noticed any purple." Katara replied.

"Is it just a case of spiritual hayfever?"

Katara thought about the nightmares; the undefined creatures writhing through her mind and dredging up every deep set fear.

"Yeah." She replied. Aang had already looked her over and had sensed nothing terribly wrong with her, so Katara assumed she wasn't dying.

That was the hope anyway.

In some far part of her mind, she almost appreciated the sickness. It kept her mind from wandering over other unpleasant things.

"Anymore news from Suki?" Katara went on. The two started walking down a small alley, heading inexorably toward the shops.

"Nope. I think they're intercepting her letters." Sokka said, his face looking grim.

"That's an awfully big conspiracy theory." Katara remarked. Sokka shot her a look.

"You don't know everything about Zuko." He said and then shook his head. "You don't know how paranoid he can get."

"Turns out I don't know much about him at all." Katara added, her voice soft. Sokka looked back at her and took her hand. Katara blinked back tears and sniffed as her nose started to run.

"It'll be okay 'Tara." He said. Katara pulled at the corner of her eyes with her fingers, trying to clear her vision. Sokka kept hold of her one hand, hindering her and making her click her tongue at him.

"Stop it." She tried to shake off his hand but Sokka only tightened his grip with a grin. Katara grunted as she whipped her arm around, trying to dislodge him.

"Knock it off!" She snapped.

"I love you!" He said and bent his wrist to keep her from dislocating it.

"SOKKA!"

"ACCEPT MY LOVE KATARA."

Katara started smacking Sokka's shoulder and he started to run, still holding her hand. This forced her to trot after him, still hitting him as he laughed. When she started to cough, Sokka halted and let go of her hand. Instead, he started to pat her firmly on her back.

Tugging up on her mask, Katara bent over and spat onto the ground. With her eyes streaming, she glared upward at her brother.

"Stupid jackrabbit." She muttered. Sokka smiled smugly and gave her one last thump on the back. Katara sniffed and pulled her mask back in place.

"Excuse me." Someone tapped Sokka and they both turned. A middle aged woman stood, looking disgusted.

"Yes?" Sokka asked.

"I don't know how they behave in Kyoshi," The woman hurled out the name of the town. "But here in Republic City we do not spit. On. The street."

Katara felt the tips of her ears burn while Sokka, confused, only said "Kyoshi?"

"Sorry, my allergies-" Katara began but the woman only sniffed in indignation.

"Then go to the doctor." She retorted and walked past them with a huff.

"I guess she has a point." Katara murmured as Sokka, still confused, repeated "Kyoshi?"

"They wear blue there remember?" She said and elbowed him.

"This is very clearly Water Tribe clothing!" He balked and they started off down the lane again.

"Maybe we should leave the city." Katara said with a sigh.

"And go where?"

"I don't know. The Foggy Swamp?"

"Are you allowed back there?"

Katara glared at Sokka and he held his hands up.

"What? Last time you were there you almost started a war." He added. Katara clicked her tongue again before making a sound of exasperation.

"That was a misunderstanding." She said quickly. "And they like me, there. It's other people who were bothered."

"Like the King of the Earth Kingdom."

"I could end you."

"But then who would you get to cut up your pomegranates?" Sokka batted his eyes at her and Katara rolled hers.

The issue was, Katara knew where she wanted to be, and it was the only place that was forbidden. Rin had told her, before leaving with the rest of the royal entourage, that her presence would be decidedly unwelcome, all things considered.

Zuko had said nothing at all.

That still didn't mean she wanted to go home. When she had resolved that Yupik wasn't to be her home, Katara had come to an understanding. Water covered most of the world, and none of it ever stayed in the same place. Water held in the icebergs floated to warmer seas, became clouds, and fell as rivers across a far flung plain. She could go anywhere, but it would never be going home.

"Maybe home is a person, not a place." Katara murmured, mostly to herself.

"That's why I don't mind Kyoshi." Sokka said then paused. "Mmm."

Katara looked over at him and saw him facing a building.

"Post office." He said in lieu of an explanation and ducked through the propped open door. Figuring the air was the same inside the open building as it was out here, Katara opted to stay out in the lane. Leaning against the wall, she glanced around.

It was hot and dusty. The gutsy spring weather kicked up clouds of particles, that even looking at them made Katara want to sneeze. The glass cases of the brand new electric lamp posts were caked in bronze dust. At night, they would glow amber.

It was an odd city that fizzled with electricity, but still boasted a well-off lantern maker.

Republic City had previously been Kaifeng, a small city originally settled as a trading outpost for the city kingdom of Anhui. When the Fire Nation had invaded, they had used the land mostly as a quarry. Now as the seat of a new nation, it struggled to create a new identity. It was commercial yet had so far been unable to cultivate a refined culture of any sort. Even the electric street lights and the thick cables of telegraph wires were not enough to mark the city as luxurious. It was, however, wealthy enough to be important. A number of Inner Ring residents held lands or businesses here, storefronts left empty by the retreating Fire Nation citizens.

In fact, only a couple of blocks from the Beifong Metalbending Academy was the Beifong Trading Company building, owned by Toph's parents and run by a squeamish steward. It had infuriated Toph when she finally found out that through two lending and land companies, her parents actually owned the building she rented.

Katara waved at a couple of people passing by; shop owners and merchants that she had gotten to know through Sokka's perusing. She idly watched the foot traffic, and was momentarily bemused by the man struggling with an obstinate jackmule. It's long floppy ears twitched in the sun and a sign that had been hung on one of its antlers clattered against the bone. Pushing herself off the wall, Katara walked over to him.

"Need any help?" She questioned. The man, his face straining as he pulled on the lead, relaxed and heaved out a heavy breath.

"No, thank you. She'll move when she wants." He said. Katara was still a few steps away and could see round to the back of the cart. Her eyes registered the form of a small girl just as the child began to scream.

"Thief!" She bellowed and Katara took off running. It was easy to figure out who she was chasing, as he was the only one shoving past the people in front of him. With the amount of people in the lane, Katara couldn't get a clear shot. With a grunt of frustration, Katara felt around for water, any water, that she could use. With the lack of rain, the gutters were dry and there were no handy puddles.

Katara continued to rush forward, making a sinuous streak through the people who squawked about the thief. The young man, not expecting to be pursued, panicked and wasted a moment to look over his shoulder. He ran straight into a fruit cart, overturning it and falling into a pile of bruised fruit.

She hesitated for just a moment as Hama's voice bubbled up from her memories.

There was water in every living thing.

Katara pulled on the water in the fruit, wincing as she saw the plump, round flesh abruptly shrivel and sink upon itself. But the thin threads of sticky juice were just enough to bind the struggling thief and pull him backward through the crowd.

While Katara had to deal with the irate fruit seller, a police officer and the man with the jackmule finally reached the scene. Katara was trying to barter with the woman at the cart, offering the juice as an exchange for the damaged fruit. Various people offered containers and the police officer looked bloated and pained.

"I'll pay for it." A deep voice coming from above Katara said. She turned and face a broad man who she did not know.

"Thanks?" She offered as he began to untie a purse from his belt.

"No problem." He told her and then turned to the seller. "How much?"

The stranger paid out three gold pieces, stamped with the insignia of Ba Sing Se. He didn't even blink at the woman's quote and she turned pale at the sight of the heavy metal coins. The juice that Katara had extracted was poured into various, oddly matched containers and the fruit seller now sheepishly offered a cup to both Katara and her creditor.

When he didn't immediately leave, Katara eyed him. He was large, though proportionally smaller than Amaq, and she knew she would have remembered him if they had met.

"My name is Yong Wang Lei, but you can call me Lei." He said and smiled at her.

"Katara." She replied cautiously. Lei's smile brightened and Katara tried again to recall who he was.

"I thought it was you. I wasn't sure till I saw the bending." He said.

"Oh." Katara said and then forced a weak laugh. "Kay."

"I have a letter for you. From Iroh." Lei reached into his tunic but paused as he saw Katara's bewildered look. "My mother is Yong Shui?"

"You're Rin's brother?" Katara blurted and Lei laughed as he pulled out an envelope.

"One of the ones in the middle, yeah." He replied.

"You guys look nothing alike." Katara stated and took the folded paper from him. Lei laughed again.

"We get that a lot. We're all just big." He said. The fell into an awkward silence and Lei looked around. "Where's your brother?"

"Oh shoot." Katara said and started jogging back the way she came. "Follow me."

Sokka was leaning against the outside of the post office, looking bored. When he saw Katara trotting over he stood up, then looked askance at Lei following closely behind her.

"What is it about you that attracts burly guys?" Sokka remarked and Katara shoved him as she stopped in front of him.

"This is Wang Lei, one of Rin's brothers." Katara said after Sokka righted himself. He then shook hands with Lei.

"So what's the news?" Sokka asked, gesturing to the letter.

"Iroh came to visit and asked one of us to make the trip to Kaifeng. I just got off the train." Lei said and glanced backward over his shoulder. "My bag is still at the station."

"Do you have anywhere to stay?" He asked as Katara broke apart the seal. The envelope was wrapped oddly and she almost had to shake it open.

"Iroh gave me some money, I can find a place." Lei answered. Katara saw Suki's fine handwriting and almost started to hand it to Sokka, but caught a familiar character.

"Why don't you stay with us? We're crashing at the Beifong Academy." Sokka offered as Katara read over the letter.

"Really? With the Toph Beifong? That would be amazing." Lei said.

Katara pulled the letter closer to her face as she read it again.

"Sure. Though she might test you first. You're an Earthbender right?" Sokka asked.

"We have to go to the Fire Nation." Katara blurted. Both Lei and Sokka turned to her, surprised. Katara shoved the letter into Sokka's hands.

"There's something wrong with Zuko." She stated.


	3. Allies

The smell of burnt wood was alarming first thing upon waking. Suki's mind tried to get her out of bed, but her body was sluggish. As she opened her eyes, they watered in the hazy air. The acrid smoke squeezed through every gap and crack it could find. Coughing, Suki wiped her eyes and sat up slowly. No one had ever mentioned this phenomenon to her before, and she wondered how people got used to it. It did explain some things however.

For how warm and tropical most of the Fire Nation was, there was an issue of overgrowth. Ironically enough, they had to use prescribed burns to clear out excess plantlife in order to lower the risk of wildfires. So, smaller, controlled fires to prevent larger, more dangerous ones.

Suki opened her window, hoping for a circulating breeze, but instead was hit in the face by a much heavier cloud of smoke. She continued coughing and tried to fan a clear space in the air with her hands.

She had to get out of the palace.

It was mid afternoon, as Suki had gone to bed only after visiting Iroh and making her rounds. Now she had to do her check-in, gathering reports from the other warriors. They were a skeleton crew, and worked long shifts at odd rotations, but they were still going strong. The women Suki had taken along with her were of a more forgiving sort, and did not think poorly of Zuko. After everything that had happened, they were more concerned than anything else.

Dressing quickly, Suki made her plan for the day. She splashed water on her face, to clear the layer of ash and grime from her skin, and then prepped her door. Previously, she had been unconcerned with whomever had been going through her things, but Iroh had warned her that them finding something wasn't the issue.

It was the potential to hide something and find it again later, at a more convenient time.

There was certainly now a tangible hostility between the new palace staff and the Kyoshi Warriors. Most of them came from the former colonies yet a few were Firebenders, and the rest at least had the look. The regular staff complained about the foreigners but, so they muttered, at least it wasn't as bad as the inferior stock Chang had allowed. There was an air of preference, even as the new staff came with the Earth Kingdom princess's recommendation.

Small, seemingly controlled fires over the potential of a wildfire.

Suki snorted as she set her traps. Of course, they wouldn't really work. When someone eventually tripped it, they would claim to only be servants, attempting to tidy up. Suki would, of course, explain it was an innocent prank on one of her girls; claiming ignorance that anyone else had been going into her room. But then each group would know that the other was aware of the circumstances.

Both groups would have to be more careful.

After carefully shutting her door, Suki trotted down the hall toward the first post. She had dressed again in her casual clothes, picking a red tunic and black pants. At first glance, she looked like one of the colonists. As long as no one looked too closely it was an easy enough disguise. Suki made sure to move quickly.

While meeting with the other warriors, Suki became more and more frustrated. The unspoken suspicion between the two groups was escalating into subtle aggression. Some of the warriors related how they were being followed, or watched while on guard. Conversations were being witnessed by people around corners. The only saving grace was that each one of the problematic staff, to a man, jingled lightly with every movement. Suki considered setting some of the women on a counter espionage mission, but she simply didn't have the numbers.

After meeting with the last warrior, Suki made her way out of doors. She made sure to grab a wicker basket, hoping to look like a gardener. Spotting a rag lying on a small fence, she took it and wrapped it over her hair. When people approached, Suki made a show of picking at plants, neither weeding nor harvesting, but grabbing fistfuls of greenery to dump in the basket. With these interruptions, it took her much longer than expected to get to her destination. Covered with sweat and a new layer of soot, Suki strode up to the small vine covered house and knocked on the door.

When it opened, a pair of fire foxes rushed out and circled around Suki's ankles. The woman who answered was pretty, with a thin face and long hair. She wore no expression, which made Suki nervous.

"Are you Zinna?" Suki asked and the woman only blinked at the question.

"I am." She answered. "And you are?"

"My name is Suki. I'm one of the Kyoshi Warriors." Suki replied. Zinna's mouth twitched.

"Come in, please." Zinna said stiffly and stepped aside, gesturing for Suki to step inside. The fire foxes bounded off before her, and Suki stepped reverently into the small foyer. When Zinna slid the door closed, Suki turned to her.

"I was actually looking for your wife." Suki said. Zinna sighed and continued into the house. Suki could hear the playful growls and yips of the fire foxes from around a corner.

"Rin isn't here right now." Zinna said as Suki followed after her. "You're welcome to wait for her."

"Where is she?" Suki asked.

"Who knows. Certainly not at the palace where she should be." Zinna remarked with clear frustration. Suki didn't reply and only watched as Zinna went into the kitchen. Zinna started aggressively making tea, muttering to herself as she did. Suki awkwardly took a seat in the adjacent sitting room. The fire foxes, oblivious, incorporated her into their bout.

"Zuko hasn't dismissed her." Suki stated hesitantly.

"But he doesn't call for her either." Zinna retorted. As the kettle started to heat up, the ticking noise of the metal expanding occupied the empty space. Suki started as one of the fire foxes jumped up into her lap, and she tried to mask her nervousness by stroking it. But as it began to mouth her, with its nonetheless sharp teeth, she pushed it back off.

Looking around the room, Suki tried to get a feel for the normal occupants. The house was sparsely decorated but still felt homey. Light shone in from papered windows and it felt cozy, like living inside of a paper lantern. Suki couldn't pick anything as a clear sign of either woman who lived here. Rin had always been cranky, and was a large presence both physically and metaphorically. Zinna looked slight in comparison and was shaped like a stylus; straight as a pole with narrow feet. She must have been a gardener, due to the profusion of blossoms and greenery.

"I know Zuko was in the Poles with her." Suki said suddenly. Zinna's head snapped to her, and her eyes narrowed.

"How do you know that?" She questioned.

"My boyfriend was there."

Zinna only looked more disgusted. "And he said-"

"No." Suki interrupted her. "He never outright said, since there was obviously a need for secrecy. But he told me, in a way only I would understand."

Zinna sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut. When the kettle started to whistle she walked over without another word and grabbed a teatowel. Sliding the cover on the stove, she took a moment to fold the towel over before grabbing the handle.

"He was here, before they left for the North Pole." Zinna said as she poured water into a teapot. Suki stayed quiet and watched her put the kettle back before grabbing a tea tin.

"He hadn't been sleeping or eating. Grief was consuming him." She went on. Suki nodded, remembering how he had fainted when Chang was cremated. Shocking to think that had only been a season ago.

Zinna finished making the tea and started to arrange everything on a tray. The cups matched and as she placed small bowls of food, Suki's stomach made a painful gurgling. Zinna must have heard it as she smiled while she walked over with the tray.

"I don't know what happened in the Poles." She added. Suki sighed and waited for Zinna to pour and serve.

"I don't either. It's been impossible to talk safely with Sokka." She said.

"I heard Iroh has gone to Ba Sing Se." Zinna said carefully.

"To visit Yong."

"Of course."

The women ate delicately, and quietly.

"Sokka and Katara are in Republic City correct?" Zinna questioned.

"For now."

Zinna nodded and settled more into her seat.

"While we wait for Rin, why don't you tell me what's been going on in the palace?"


	4. Strangers

While they stopped to collect Lei's bag from the station, Katara checked about passage west. Spring often blew visitors to the temperate island nation, so airships and sailing vessels left regularly westward toward the Fire Nation. The board was filled with departures, and an airship was scheduled to leave in three days with an unassigned shipment of goods. Seats were available, the quartermaster told her, but would probably go quick.

The only thing that kept her from booking passage right then and there was the lack of funds that consistently plagued her.

The anxiety ate at her and Katara began to pick at the hem of her tunic. She trailed behind the two men, occasionally having to slip past shoulders to catch up with them. When she actually looked up to dodge an oncoming group, Katara accidentally bumped into a man. He smiled as she apologized but her mouth dried when she looked into his face.

Whatever he said in reply was lost, but the sight of his gold eyes lingered.

She was starting to hate being in Republic City.

"Have you heard anything about the palace?" Sokka asked Lei as Katara fell into step with them. The other man shrugged.

"Not really. Rin barely writes, and never visits. And it's not easy for us to make the trip from Ba Sing Se." Lei answered.

"Your mom goes all the time though." Sokka said. Lei laughed and shrugged again with greater exaggeration.

"Well, Iroh did marry her." He shook his head. "Iroh would, of course, supply the travel, but there's not a reason to go to the palace."

Katara glanced at Sokka then. She understood what Lei meant. Not hearing from Sokka, let alone visiting him, had become her normal over the years. This was the longest she had spent with him since the war ended. If she ever dwelled on it, it made her feel guilty. Sokka had brushed it off, telling her they had to focus on the present.

It wasn't, as she had noticed, such an easy thing for her to do.

When they reached the academy, Katara went in first.

"Toph? We have a visitor." She called out.

"I'm right here Katara." Toph retorted. She walked out of the kitchen, stirring a mug of coffee.

"Rin's brother is visiting and we offered-" Katara started and Toph snorted, interrupting her.

"You decided I needed more freeloaders?" She asked.

"He's an Earthbender." Sokka remarked as he walked in.

"Oh is h-" Toph cut off as Lei stepped in. Just as his feet hit the wood floor, Toph was able to see him and her eyes widened.

"Well, hello." She said in a tone that made Katara blush.

"Keep it together Toph." Sokka remarked as he walked past her. She shot out her elbow and caught him in the side, making him wince.

"Hello Sifu. Thank you for allowing me into your academy." Lei said and bowed. Toph's face fell back into her normal sternness.

"You're welcome to a bed, but you're not in my academy." She stated. "Let's go see what you're capable of."

"Actually-" Katara interjected, leaning in between the two. "Sokka and I need to talk to you."

Toph blew out a breath to make her bangs flutter.

"Fine." She said and then turned to face the training room.

"LILY LIVERS!" She bellowed. There was a crash and the sound of scrambling before three sets of footsteps began to rapidly approach. Toph gently tapped her spoon on the lip of her mug as she waited.

"YES SIFU." All three students said in unison as they pulled to a stop in the foyer.

"I need to you to test this one for any metalbending ability." Toph said and jerked a thumb back at Lei. All three of them leaned over to stare at Lei, then tilted their heads up to actually look at him.

"Uhh," Lei intoned, starting to get nervous. "What does that, mean?"

Toph turned and held up the spoon she had been using to stir her coffee. As they all watched, she flexed various fingers and the metal utensil shivered and twitched into new shapes. Holding it out to Lei, Toph continued to shape the spoon. Lei's hand trembled slightly as he reached out and touched it, just as the spoon righted itself. Toph let go and Lei staggered forward to grab hold of it. Toph turned away from him, loudly sipping her coffee.

"Let's see if you can do that, Ringer." She said and started to walk away. After no one moved, Toph glanced over her shoulder.

"Are we talking or standing?" She asked. Katara and Sokka shook themselves in unison and followed after Toph. Behind them, the students started their low murmur as they all tried to explain themselves to Lei at the same time.

Toph started toward the door that led into the side yard, but suddenly veered away from it. Sokka stumbled at the change of course and Katara could see Toph grin for a moment before drinking more of her coffee. While they walked to the stairs, Katara looked over at the huddled group of students; Lei was holding onto the spoon and straining while the others shouted instructions and encouragement.

"So what did Lei bring with him?" Toph asked as she mounted the stairs.

"Zuko's been having night terrors." Katara said and Toph grunted.

"What else is new? He hasn't a good night's sleep since the war ended." She remarked. Sokka and Katara shared a pained look as they walked up to the second floor.

"I still think he's been brainwashed." Katara said and Toph sighed. She stopped at the railing and looked down. Katara and Sokka flanked her, looking at her face before looking down at the open training room below. Her students were throwing small pieces of metal at Lei, who was trying to shield himself with the spoon.

"Ever since Ba Sing Se, I've been trying to get better at reading people." Toph said. Her eyes darted as if they were watching the movements of her students. Katara tried to feel any vibrations under her hands, but couldn't sense anything.

"Well it's not like we've run into any more brainwashed people." Sokka said.

"It took a couple of days for Joo Dee to be re-educated." Toph said, soaking the final word in mockery. "When did they have time to do that to Zuko?"

Katara tightened her grip on the railing and stared down at the wood grain.

"You might need to consider the fact that Zuko made a choice." Toph said and Katara scoffed.

"What do you know? You've barely interacted with him in years!" She retorted. Toph's face strained and Katara glanced down as the metal bracelet she wore suddenly grew spikes. Then Toph let out a measured breath and the bracelet smoothed out.

"You're not the only one he was penpals with Sugar Queen." Toph said flatly.

"You can read?" Sokka asked, incredulous. Toph turned to him and shoved him backward.

"You invented the machine, you idiot!" Toph retorted, but with only mild irritation. Sokka blinked up at her.

"I forgot all about that thing." He said. Toph made a frustrated noise and shoved him with her toes as she walked past him.

"That's because you don't need it." She said over her shoulder. Katara helped Sokka up and he chuckled.

"I was also really drunk when I made it." He added and Katara rolled her eyes. They followed Toph into her bedroom and paused in the doorway.

The bedroom was sparsely decorated. The only real furniture was a massive wood desk with large, oddly shaped metal handles. Papers were scattered across the surface; most of them clipped with metal tabs. A large metal box with a row of keys at the front took up most of the space. It was something Sokka had in fact created and told Katara about years ago. He called it a type-set writer and could imprint characters onto a piece of paper. The metal keys were heavy and the embossed characters could be read by skimming a finger over them.

There was theoretically an option to stamp the keys with ink, but Toph hadn't cared about that.

"Where did you get this?" Sokka asked. Toph walked to the desk and used her bending to pick up papers by the tabs. She felt at symbols carved into the tabs and discarded some until she found the one she needed.

"Zuko had it made for me. A clockmaker and printer couple actually put it together." Toph answered. She walked back and handed Katara a small packet of papers. The top sheet was blank, but as she tilted it in her hands she saw the light cast shadows over the surface.

"I can't read this." She said.

"Welcome to my life." Toph retorted. "That's the copy."

Katara flipped up the paper and saw a handwritten note under it. It was a letter from Toph's parents. All it discussed was the plans to buy out a metalworks factory in Republic City. One that was currently owned by a Fire Nation company.

"What does this mean?" Katara asked and handed the letter to Sokka.

"I don't know if Zuko has been brainwashed, but I'm certain there's something that's making him act this way." Toph said.

"The Earth Kingdom is trying to take over the Fire Nation." Sokka said and Toph crossed her arms over her chest.

"Through their economy at least." She stated then gestured to the letter with a hand. "Zuko may have been backed into a corner."

"So we have to go save him." Sokka said.

"If we can." Toph agreed. There was a yell from below and Toph made a noise of astonishment. Sokka and Katara looked at her in time to see her bracelet reform.

"Looks like he's a Metalbender." She added. Distracted, Toph fidgeted with the bracelet and looked toward her door.

"Toph?" Katara prompted gently. Toph sighed and shook her head.

"It's a damned relief that everyone has a crisis every few months." She started and stamped her foot. A bag shot up from her desk and Toph yanked a fist in toward her body, making the bag fly to her. Catching it, she hefted it in her hand for a few seconds.

"Or else I would be so bored." She finished, not sounding pleased. Toph threw the bag at Sokka, who caught it neatly.

"Go buy us some seats." She said and walked past him to the door. They all walked out of the room and Toph stopped by the railing as Sokka continued down.

"That's enough!" She shouted and the noise below ceased.

"I think he's one of us." Penga chirped and Toph rolled her eyes.

"This is going to be a long three days." She muttered.

In spite of Toph's declaration, the three days passed quickly. Sokka spent most of his time out and Toph prepared the academy for her absence. Feeling anxious, and having packed everything on the first day, Katara decided to go see a physician.

There was a hospital in Republic City. It was a modern marvel and Katara had been there a few times already in a more academic capacity. A few doctors had offered to mentor her if she went to the university in Ba Sing Se, but the thought had flustered her. Even more, she grew slightly sheepish when she saw the texts the doctors referred to on a regular basis. Because of her bending, most of her healing was done on intuition. The physicians she met with could diagram the circulatory system and name the parts of the brain. Away from Sokka, Katara had gone to watch an autopsy, pressing her face to the glass to watch as the surgeons identified the inner organs. It had filled her with both horror and deep fascination.

Being a healer meant so much more in the Earth Kingdom. It brought on more turmoil as Katara thought about her place in the world. It seemed to be a requirement that she dedicate herself to rebuilding her people, much in the same way Aang devoted his energy and purpose. But being in the hospital - with their sterilized operating rooms and precise diagnostic practices - made Katara wonder if she was more separated from the Poles than she thought.

The draw and conflict made her tired, compounding the fatigue that came with her illness.

It didn't help that as Katara caught the trolley a few blocks away, it was already packed. Panic caused her to start sweating and Katara shivered in spite of the pressing body heat. When someone deeper in the car began to cough, Katara almost propelled herself off of the trolly. Instead, she only tugged up her face mask and kept her head tilted out the open side.

The dust was starting to get bad in the city. With no rain for almost a week, and almost constant traffic on the streets, the only puddles of moisture were rank circles of waste. Thankfully it was still spring, so the heat wasn't oppressive. But the air became thick with dust and pollen.

Windows in storefronts were tinged either ochre or yellow; some were still smudged as the owners fought the grime. Many had given up and hoped for rain.

Looking up at the thin clouds, Katara could not feel rain. Something else swirled inside of her though- the sense of potential. She remembered the spirit world, where bending did not exist, and thought of the storm.

Katara lowered her head, gargled a cough in the back of her throat, and tightened her grip on the trolley bar.

Once at the hospital, Katara glanced about the waiting room. There weren't very many clients, and the largest cluster was a group huddled around one figure who held a bloodied arm to his chest. They were all covered in dust, but it was gray, so she assumed they were construction workers.

"Is it busy today?" Katara asked the attendant.

"Busy enough." The woman sighed. "Not enough doctors."

Katara nodded. "May I have a cup of water?"

Walking over to the group of construction workers, Katara tugged up on her face mask again. One of the workers noticed her and shifted uneasily away.

"Hi!" Katara said brightly, smiling underneath the fabric. "What seems to be the problem?"

Another one of the workers turned to her and stood.

"Are you a doctor?" They asked. Katara shook her head.

"No. But I am a healer." She said quickly. When the worker glanced back at their friends, Katara pulled up some of the water from the cup with a light wave of her hand.

"I'm a Waterbender." She stated.

The injured man only had a deep laceration from a fallen stone. What normally would have required half a dozen stitches was smoothed away by Katara's healing. The group tried to press money into her hands and, embarrassed, she requested they donate it to pay at least part of someone else's bill. She watched as they all moved en masse to the reception desk and deposited their money before walking away, leaving the receptionist bewildered.

Moving away from the desk, Katara chucked the dirty water into a potted plant, but kept hold of the small wooden cup. She walked next to a couple sitting quietly together in the back. With no visible signs of trauma, Katara now felt uneasy and sat a few feet away from the pair. They were holding each other and had their foreheads pressed together. One of the men was speaking, too low for her to overhear, and his hand went to the back of the other man's neck. The other man nodded and tears fell down his face. Embarrassed again, Katara looked down into the empty cup.

A moment later, movement tinged the air with anxiety and Katara looked up. Two large nurses stood adjacent to the couple, and the crying man was standing. He held the other man's hand and his face was pale.

"I love you." He said in a rush, obviously afraid.

"I love you." The other man half stood as their hands separated. "I'll be waiting."

He did stand, just as the nurses took the crying man gently by the arms and led him away. The remaining man clasped his hands together and brought them to his mouth.

"Is he okay?" Katara asked, feeling overcome by their conjoined terror. The man turned, shocked, and looked for whoever had spoken. When he saw Katara, he relaxed and gave her a small smile.

"He will be. In a few days." He replied as he sat down. "I don't know for how long though."

His voice was thin and tired. His face was thin and tired. As his hand passed through his hair, Katara thought she saw the glitter of gray hair.

"Can I help? I'm a Waterbender, and a healer." She offered. The man looked surprised and then smiled that same small smile at her.

"I don't think so. Unless you can heal a mind?" He said. Katara shrank into herself a bit and shook her head.

"He's been like this since we were teenagers. He didn't even want to marry me because of it." The man clasped his hands again and looked down at them as he tightened his fingers. "Sometimes, the noise in his mind gets so loud it drowns out everything else."

"How long have you been married?" Katara asked.

"Ten years." He said. It was not wistful or sad or loving, how he said it. Just a statement, neither resented nor endeared.

"Is it hard? To stay?"

He looked up at her and his gaze was like flint stone. It was too much to ask of a stranger and Katara flinched. He examined her for a moment and when she didn't look away, only shook his head.

"If he had been afflicted with cancer, it would have been hard. I don't know why everyone assumes this is any different." He replied, looking away as he spoke. His hands tightened again and his knuckles went white.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" Katara trailed off and he looked at her again.

"You know someone?"

"She had been treated in the Matsu Institute. In the Fire Nation."

The man nodded.

"We've been there, well, Pan has. He got a lot better there." He said. Something in her half-visible face made him look plaintive. "Did she not?"

"Oh. No. Not without," Katara hesitated again. "Not without losing everything."

"And even then." The man added with soft finality.

"And even then." Katara murmured in agreement.

A nurse came for Katara and she held up a hand in farewell. The man smiled.

The doctor who examined her said it was merely a reaction to the air pollution. She gave Katara a powder to mix into her tea and sent her off. As she left, Katara looked around the waiting room and saw new people. The man was gone.

Katara strolled as leisurely as possible to the trolley stop, moving away from the clusters of people to cough discreetly into her handkerchief. People eyed her with distrust, and she shifted her eyes away as she pulled up her face mask.

Her sickness was becoming a defining point of her life; though the air was heavier with pollen and dust, it was getting harder to breathe. Walking for too long or simply being out in the heat made her lungs heave with effort.

If it would only rain.

A feeling like a headache was roiling, building behind her eyes. There was pressure, but no pain. Looking back up into the hazy sky, Katara noted that the wispy clouds were gathering. They were threads of a storm, and a deft hand could pull them together.

She ignored the threads, ignored the pressure, and tried not to sneeze.

The sun was at its zenith when Katara jumped off the trolley. The heat was not yet oppressive - though spring did not last long in this part of the world - but it was smothering. There was less wheeled traffic out but now a mass of people flowed up and down the unpaved roads. Katara snaked her way through them and kept a hand on her bag, still remembering the thief from the other day.

"Riku!" A man yelled out and Katara turned. People parted around her, ignoring her stopped form in the middle of the road. Among the shuffling faces, Katara saw ebony hair, colored with iridescence. She tried to follow the hair, but it melted into the sea of brunettes.

"Riku!" The man called again, with heightened anxiety. Katara turned about, feeling her heart beating rapidly while her body lost circulation. Gold eyes glinted in a faceted circle around her.

Then, there was just a small girl at her feet.

Her skin was darker, and her deep brown eyes looked as warm as her long brown hair. The child resembled some sort of otter, looking sleek and self-satisfied.

"Riku?" Katara hazarded. The girl nodded.

"Your father?" Katara asked. The girl nodded again.

Katara sighed and gestured to her with an open hand. "Come on."

The girl only held her arms out and Katara sighed again. Picking her up, Katara could smell sunshine and sugar caught in the girl's hair. She had a child's weight, both soft and too heavy in the center.

Azula had been a child once. Zuko had told them that unlike most normal children, Azula had always been cruel. Fire seemed to find its way from her hands to small animals, or at people, or unattended draperies.

Katara glanced at the child in her arms, who seemed content to be carried by a stranger after having wandered away from her father. Perhaps all children were some level of sociopath.

Riku, the smaller one in her arms, wriggled and Katara paused to look around. She spotted a man looking frantic and talking animatedly with a shop owner. Bending down to release the child, Katara watched the girl walk leisurely to her father. When she tugged on his tunic, the man looked down and nearly collapsed. He hugged her, then held her cheeks and spoke to her, continuously pushing her hair behind her ears. He was still anxious, still animated, but as Riku gave restrained nods, Katara knew he wasn't yelling at her. The man hugged his daughter again, then stood with her in his arms.

As he started to look around, Katara tensed. Riku slapped at his shoulder and pointed directly at her, moving her father's attention. When he saw her, he gave a watery, close lipped smile and Katara held up her hand.

The pair walked off, and Katara watched them disappear before stepping back into the stream of people.

Children were not often on Katara's mind. She could treat them, and she could entertain them if they were below a certain age. And she knew she would have one or two of her own, eventually. But they were still secondary creatures to her. Somewhere between highly intelligent animal, and Sokka.

Her soon-to-be baby brother would change her whole world. A proper boy to be the proper sort of claimant to her father's position. There would, of course, never be such a suggestion if Katara would oblige and marry Amaq.

Picturing a baby with her skin, her eyes, Katara found herself imagining a girl. Not Malina's baby then, but her own. A Waterbender, but hidden behind the ice walls until her marriage bed could be auctioned off.

Raising a baby in a loveless marriage would be awful. Even with only a handful of memories, Katara could remember how her father had looked at her mother. She knew they loved each other, that she had been made with that love, and had expected to grow in it. It made life easier.

Zuko and Azula had not experienced such a benefit.

Scowling beneath her mask, Katara pushed out into a side street. The academy was up a hill, giving it some distance from the bustle of the blossoming city. The noise lessened and, without as much movement, so did the dust. She pulled down the mask and took in deep, gulping breaths of fresh air.


	5. The Fire Lord

Rin did not return to the house. Suki stayed for as long as she could, discussing the nature of the palace in roundabout ways. Zinna was on edge, that much was clear, but Suki still didn't feel very welcomed. After the tea was finished, Suki made her goodbyes and left the cozy home.

The wind picked up and the scent of smoke and ash, while still pervasive, had lessened. Suki touched a hand to her kerchief and walked down a path back toward the palace. There was more activity going on than usual; less like the daily routine and more purposeful. She had no idea what that could mean and the thought made her face tighten. She didn't like this; nothing was going right.

When she and Sokka had arrived at the palace, with Ty Lee and trunks full of supplies for the school, she had been hopeful. All she had to do was start the school, train some guards, and then return to Kyoshi with Sokka. The miscarriage had been hard on them both, and getting away was supposed to help them breathe a bit.

Suki lowered her hand and gently touched her stomach, just for a second.

That conversation had been firmly buried now. On their way back from Hira'a, and preparing Chang's body, Suki wondered how her problems even merited a conversation. She had watched Sokka board the ship to the North Pole and remembered Zuko fainting. She couldn't leave him, and Sokka sailed away making her choice for her.

While Sokka was gone, Suki tried to set up the school. Ty Lee was awkward, reticent, and often distracted. She grieved for Azula and Suki had to plead with Zuko to let her tell the truth. When she did, Ty Lee still looked out the window, thinking now of the miles between her and Hira'a.

Suki tried to draw Zuko out, to get him out of his own head, but he wouldn't budge. She would find him roaming the halls at night or writing furiously in his office. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't leave the royal quarters. Even when Suki requested he tour the school, Zuko would wave her off.

Then, suddenly, he left. Suki was confused when Iroh told him Zuko had gone to Ember Island, for rest. He took a light guard, but not her. He hadn't even told her he was leaving.

The loneliness ached then. She tried to tie up everything at the palace before leaving; without her friends, without Sokka, and totally alone. When Sokka had written to her, and told her of the fight and Zuko's appearance, Suki had been angry. Zuko had not just ignored her, but kept secrets from her, had kept her from her family and friends! She knew she would wait, just to give Zuko a piece of her mind before she left for Kyoshi.

He had come back, wrong.

Physically, Zuko seemed fine. He actually looked improved, as if he had spent the weeks away at Ember Island. There were no shadows under his eyes, his face was fuller, and he actually smiled.

Which was how Suki knew something was wrong. Zuko could be a happy man, but he simply did not smile.

She couldn't leave him. She was his guard after all.

Dipping through usually empty gardens and between bushes, Suki attempted to stay out of sight. Almost every person she had seen was wearing bells, and the ringing chased her as she moved. Chancing upon an unmowed patch of lawn, Suki slowed and wiped at her eyes. The wind didn't hold a smell, but it certainly blew up the ash.

While momentarily blinded, Suki heard footsteps and louder bells. Panicked, she considered falling into the tall grass, though it wouldn't hide her as dry and brittle as it was. Still frozen with indecision, she nearly jumped when she heard her name.

"Suki! I thought that was you." Zuko said as Suki turned to face him. Him, and the sour-faced servant next to him.

"Hello, Zuko. How are you feeling?" Suki asked. Zuko, still smiling, tilted his head a bit. The shadows under his eyes had returned, and he was looking pale. He was wearing robes that while richly embroidered with shining gold thread, made him look like an invalid.

"Feeling?" He questioned in reply. Suki fidgeted but struggled to find any safe clarifying words. When her eyes darted to the servant, Zuko turned.

"Oh," He said and brightened. He continued smiling when he turned back to her. "You mean from last night."

"I'm just worried about you." Suki said and reached out to gently touch Zuko's arm. He looked down at her hand as if confused, and then lightly shook her off.

"It has been agreed that perhaps my constitution has been weakened by staying indoors for so long. Deng has offered to take a walk with me." Zuko said. Suki looked again at the servant, who scowled at her.

"Do you have time to join us? It would be nice to catch up." He continued and Suki gave a start.

"Oh. Well, sure. Only," Suki paused as the wind gave a hearty gust and she held her kerchief in place on her head. With a sudden thought, she gave a slight tug and the rag lifted from her hair. It caught on the wind and was ripped away, and Suki gave a small cry as she reached for it.

"What's the matter?" Zuko asked. Suki sighed and lowered her face, having her features droop.

"The sun is so much hotter here than in Kyoshi. I need to keep the sun off me or else I might faint." She answered and glanced up at Zuko. Sokka was the one to use his face to manipulate people, but Suki wasn't above using such tactics herself.

Zuko furrowed his brow and looked at Deng.

"Go and fetch that for Suki." He ordered and Deng looked startled.

"But your highness, it is only a rag!" He retorted.

"Then go and get a shade for her. I will not have one of my friends get sun poisoning!" Zuko countered. Deng looked pained and his mouth gaped like a fish as he sought to reply. Knowing that he could not, he stomped through the tall grass in the direction the wind had taken Suki's rag.

When he was far enough away, Suki held onto Zuko's arm.

"We should walk, so that I can at least get a little air." She said. Zuko looked as confused as Deng, but was also unable to find an appropriate denial.

"Of course. But let's go slowly so that Deng can catch up." He replied and patted her hand.

They began to walk in the direction of a garden Suki knew was teeming with servants. She did not have enough time.

"When do you think you'll come down to the school?" She asked.

"Is it almost ready?"

"Yes, well, just about. Ty Lee is a bit distracted."

Zuko laughed. "She often is." His face softened then and he looked as if he were contemplating a choice between socks. "Perhaps she misses Azula."

"Do you?" The words came out so quickly, Suki barely noticed she had said them aloud.

"My sister was a traitor and a war criminal. It is hard to miss such a person." Zuko said. There was no bitterness or anger in his words. They were said as simply as someone discussing the flaws in an ill-cast pot.

"But I hope her spirit finds peace in the afterlife." Zuko continued and Suki felt ice in her hands.

"Yes. Of course." Suki replied automatically as her thoughts spun madly. She was quiet for a few moments before pushing things forward.

"At least Ty Lee has Riku." Suki said hesitantly.

"One of the other warriors?" Zuko asked. Suki stopped and yanked on Zuko's arm, forcing him to look at her.

"What has happened to you?" She demanded. Zuko ripped his arm out of her grip and glared at her.

"What are you talking about?"

"This isn't you Zuko. None of this is you. You can't even remember…" Suki hesitated, looking around. She couldn't hear any bells.

"Remember what?"

"What were you doing in the North Pole?" Suki questioned, facing Zuko. He had begun to sweat and his hair was slipping out of its clip.

"I haven't been to the North Pole in years." He stated.

"You're lying! You were there, with the spirits. And when Katara," Suki halted again, thinking back to his night terrors.

"What happened to Katara?" She asked.

Zuko stared at her, his face contorting. "Katara was…" He winced and held his head in his hands. "Katara got hurt…"

"Zuko." Suki grabbed the front of his robes and shook him once. "What happened in the North Pole?"

"No, the south. It was the South Pole. They, they hurt her." Zuko's eyes were wild, and they darted as he spoke. Then with a pained grunt, Zuko thrust Suki away from him.

"I haven't seen Katara in months." He said firmly. Suki stepped back up to him and slapped him.

"What happened to you?" She commanded him and he wavered. He looked much as he did in the throes of his nighttime madness.

"Help me." He said softly, holding a hand to his reddened cheek. "He's in my head."

"Who? Zuko, you need to tell me who did this." Suki said.

"No. Suki, I need Katara." Zuko replied and reached for her. "Suki, please. I need to tell her."

Suki held out her arms, waiting for him. "Tell her what? Zuko?"

The sound of bells, and running.

"I love her." Zuko's mouth shaped words but all she could hear was shouting.

"Your Highness!" A group of servants spoke with one voice, encircling Zuko as one entity. Bells rang on wrists and ankles, and Zuko was enveloped. Suki staggered back and felt someone grab her roughly.

"Your rag." Deng hissed and thrust the piece of linen at her before walking to the others. They all ushered Zuko away, leaving her in the sweltering sun. She continued to stand there, even after they disappeared from view.

"Well," Came a thin, irritated voice. "You certainly screwed that up."


	6. Arrival

The airship port was another trolley ride, but this one was not as densely populated. They had most of the car to themselves, and Sokka was taking full advantage. He sat on the bench with a bag under his neck, resting his head. His jaw went slack and his knees bowed outward, looking much like a puppet with cut strings. He snored, and occasionally sounded as if he were trying to dislodge an unwilling stone toad from his throat.

Toph stood, forgoing the handholds. She barely wavered on her feet as she felt the movement of the metal under her feet, and the ground below that. Even at the galloping speed, as the trolley left the main part of the city, she kept her balance.

Katara stayed by the door, holding onto a bar secured to the wall. When the wheels hit a flaw in the track, her body jolted without consideration to her joints.

"So what's the plan?" Toph asked once the airship port came into view. Katara sighed and struggled with her face mask. Ironically, out in the open fields, her allergies seemed to lessen. She could breathe easier, and her chest didn't bother her.

"We go see Zuko and find out what's going on." Katara replied.

"Whether he's brainwashed or blackmailed, you know it's not that simple." Toph said. Katara winced as she looked out of the panes in the door. An airship lifted surprisingly quickly as it took off, but two others sat like toy boats attached to balloons.

"We have to do something." She said and then glanced at Toph. "We have to."

"It's never been that easy. You know it hasn't." Toph moved back over to Sokka and kicked his shin. Sokka sat up with a yelp.

"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his leg.

"I wanted to wake you up. I just missed." Toph replied.

"You never miss." Sokka grumbled and shifted from side to side in order to sit more comfortably. Katara leaned her head against the glass, grateful that the track and smoothed out. At least she could contemplate the horizon without bashing her forehead against the wood frame.

The ship they were taking was a Class B ship; a mix of cargo and passenger. A whole group of people waited in a terminal building as merchant groups loaded up their supplies. Many of the passengers themselves were part of those groups and seemed to know each other. Tight bubbles of men and women spoke animatedly and Katara found herself drifting in their orbit.

"Once the wedding is over and the tariffs are struck, I'm going to make a killing in the Fire Nation." One woman gushed. One of the men in her group sniffed and stroked a short beard.

"I still don't think it's right that part of her dowry includes reparations to the Water Tribe. We were the ones that suffered most in the war after all." He said.

"Doesn't matter." Another woman interjected. "There's no wood in either pole. I've been selling my textile shares and buying up timber farms!" The whole group laughed and Katara continued to shuffle past them, frowning.

"What's the matter?" Sokka asked as she approached.

"I'm not saying I'd want to go back," Katara started and then huffed as she set down her large duffel bag. "But it almost seemed easier when the bad guy was Ozai and not politics and global economies."

Sokka blew a breath out from his nose and looked about the small room. Being both an international hub and one of the oldest Fire Nation colonies, Republic City boasted a rich diversity in her populace. From skin and hair to dialect and clothing, there didn't seem to be a homogenous group among the people gathered.

But they were all in variations of red or green. Having replenished their wardrobe in the North Pole, Katara and Sokka stood out in the bold blue of their tunics and jackets. It would be so easy to turn into someone else, simply in purchasing an Earth Kingdom shirt.

"It almost makes me want to go home." Sokka said and then rolled his head on his neck. "I'm going to get some tea."

After securing the cargo, the airship staff ushered in the passengers. Toph muttered as she made her way up, stomping needlessly on the metal ramp. After throwing both of her bags at Sokka - and shoving him after he successfully maintained his balance - Katara chuckled and helped him back onto his feet. The other passengers whispered and stared as they passed, but Sokka only grumbled.

"You shouldn't let her get away with that." Katara said. Sokka continued grumbling as he picked up the bags and lugged them to their seats.

"She's so small and cute, I keep forgetting how downright mean she is." He said, talking loud to make sure Toph heard him, and to let her know he wanted her to hear him.

"I'm as tall as Suki now." Toph retorted and slammed her small figure into the seat. Putting her feet up on the back of the seat in front of her, Toph leered at the man who turned to glare at her.

"What's your problem anyway?" Katara asked as she helped Sokka stow their carry-on luggage.

"I hate flying." Toph said.

"You didn't seem to mind when we were coming back from the South Pole." Sokka remarked. Toph slammed a fist into the metal wall, causing the metal luggage rack to jump out toward the aisle. Katara, feeling the odd swirl around Toph's body, pulled Sokka swiftly away.

"That was a luxury liner. And one that didn't require me to strap into these flimsy little seats." Toph retorted. "Why are we flying coach?"

"We don't have a lot of money." Sokka said as he smoothed down his tunic.

"I'm a Beifong!" Toph stated. A few faces lit up and swiveled around, so Katara hastily shoved Sokka into his seat before taking her own.

"So where's your Beifong money?" Sokka hissed. Toph quieted and, mimicking sighted social cues, turned to stare out of the small porthole window. Sokka sighed and sat down next to her, pushing his seat back and closing his eyes. Katara sat on his other side and looked down at her hands.

It was almost like they were paint stained.

While faster than every other transport making the same trip, it was still a long flight. When the sun started to fall, people began to dig out small meals and conversations became more communal. Only a few wanted to try Sokka's octoseal jerky, but the curiosity at least got them access to rice and a small bowl of edamame.

Being around so many people, and confined, Katara had replaced her face mask. It seemed to summon her allergies and her breathing became more labored. Being so high in the sky, the pressure would have been normal, had her pulse not seemed so heavy in her fingertips.

After swallowing a few bites of food, Katara excused herself and curled up in the window seat. As she attempted to feign sleeping, she nonetheless drifted off.

There was turbulence, sometime in the middle of the night, and Katara woke with a start. The cabin was almost silent, save for the small rustling and deep breathing of the other passengers. Katara wriggled out of her seat, trying not to feel the stiffness by standing upright. By slow, uncomfortable degrees, she unfolded. Sokka, as if lacking a skeleton, was splayed out in his seat, deep asleep.

Some passengers had opted to sleep on the floor, propping their heads on bags or bundled jackets. Others took advantage of the vacancies and laid out along the bench; their hips and shoulders falling into the dips of the seats.

She stood there for a moment, feeling the warmth of sleep leave her skin but be trapped by her clothes. There was an accepted silence, one that included the loud hum of the airship engines but was still quiet. The silence became a thing that mixed with her slumbering body heat and wrapped her in something more comforting than a blanket.

Looking again at her brother, Katara's eyes kept moving and she saw Toph curled up in a tight ball in her seat.

For someone so dedicated to their training, Toph slept a lot. Either drunk or just because she stayed up late, Toph was often the last one to rise when they were all visiting. Katara remembered the last time, at the boarding house, when she and Toph had raised statues in the bay of Republic City.

The night she had decided to go visit Zuko.

Staring at Toph, Katara tried to imagine what would have happened if she hadn't left, or if they hadn't gone out, or if Toph had never visited. Zuko would have gone to Hira'a with just Sokka and Suki. Aang would have been closer during Aktuk's plotting. Zuko would never have been in the South Pole.

Someone coughed in their sleep and Katara turned away.

Walking to the front of the cabin, Katara jumped when she found a crewmember awake. The woman smiled, tired, and started to stand.

"Did you need anything Miss?" The woman asked and Katara held up her hands.

"Oh no, I'm fine." She said in a hurry. The woman nodded and sat back down. The person next to her, asleep, roused a little and made a noise.

"Is there a way outside?" Katara asked. The woman gestured to a latched door at the end of the aisle behind Katara.

"During the day we travel too fast to stand outside." The woman said. "But right now should be safe."

After thanking the woman, Katara made her way to the door and quietly unlatched it. The metal resisted and she closed her eyes till the latch lifted completely free of the catch. Then, putting her shoulder to the door, she pushed it slowly outward.

The night air was cooler and on the walk there was certainly a strong wind. Katara had to focus and shut the door without letting it wrench free of her hands. It still shut harder than she had hoped and she winced after it had closed. Still, she turned and put a hand on the railing, looking out into the ocean of night sky.

There were clouds floating nearby, she could feel them. Katara leaned against the railing, crossing her arms over the top of it, and closed her eyes. The air was warm and wet with humidity, but it felt clean. At various intervals, Katara could feel something more damp and much heavier. It was familiar.

The feeling of water was something she had always known. There was the touch of it against her skin and the one she felt below her flesh. It was that feeling that she drew on, quite literally, to do her bending.

Since coming out of the Spirit World, she had been plagued with another feeling. It was pervasive and Katara had felt each one like cold spots hovering in the air, on her body, or in her soul.

Now, even with the wall between her and the rest of the people, she could feel those spots. Toph carried something that felt like an inverse star; it was hard and dark and vast. Sokka had nothing, was blissfully the calm eye at the center of whatever this was. The feeling was so much like her bending, but only because it was the nearest relation. Like seeing gold eyes in the face of a stranger.

The storm in the Spirit World had felt like every storm she had ever experienced. Not as if it shared a theme - though it boomed and flashed just the same - but as if it had been at the core of every storm she had ever lived through.

Opening her eyes, Katara tried to see the clouds she could feel. Even in the complete darkness, she knew where they were. Standing back, Katara circled her hands through easy exercises, simply threading the water around her. Sure enough, the water came, and Katara pulled the stream around her the same way she drew on a warm sweater.

Whatever the spiritual poison was doing to her, at least it wasn't affecting her bending.

Leaning her face against the stream, Katara closed her eyes again. Gliding against her skin, the water felt like a living animal. Her bending pulled away the wet, but her cheek was still chilled from the previously frozen water.

Moving her whole body in the swaying motion of the form, Katara tossed the water back out. Keeping her eyes closed, Katara shook out the stream till it frayed out like string. Curling her hands, she felt for the interruption in the water; when the water vapor hit something in the air to condense around. The strands of vapor snagged on some debris and caught up the others.

She replaced the cloud.

When Katara opened her eyes, she was almost confused when she couldn't see it. Her bending made everything seem so vibrant. She could understand Toph much more now.

Her bending also made the world more cluttered.

Again she felt those heavy pockets. Katara had thought very seriously that they were a person's bending ability, but Natan had carried the same pocket. That pool of untouched water that sat in the center of him. Sokka didn't have one, and neither had her father. Malina did, and her unborn child writhed with lively energy. And it was because of Malina that Katara had a vague idea of what was going on.

The storm in the Spirit World had not been elemental. It had been created from Spirits and the energy born of it disrupted the physical world. Katara's own spirit grappled with the storm and broke it apart. It changed her. She could recognize the bending energy in others; who carried the energy and who was able to tap into it.

As with the bloodbending, Katara was now constantly aware of this other energy she could tap into. She didn't know if she could do what Aang had done to Ozai, though she supposed it was possible. Water flowed like chi, like bending, and it made a sort of sense.

If she could talk to Aivilayoq about it, the elder spirit might be able to explain things to her.

Looking down at her hands, Katara flexed her fingers. The purple wasn't visible in the dark, but she could feel it. Her hands were made of paper, soaking in violet liquid, and it was slowly crawling up her arms.

The letters from Amaq had not been as positive as she had hoped. He spent a few hours, twice a day, at the Oasis. Perhaps hoping for the same mercy afforded to Yue - or to beseech her directly - Amaq had taken to soaking his hands in the pool.

I understand so much more about the world now. Amaq wrote. As I have spent so long watching Tui and La. I have thought about the moon and the ocean. I have thought about Yue and Sedna. I have thought about you.

I wish you would come back. The door has been closed to me, and I need help opening it.

Shaking out her hands, Katara turned back to the metal door. She opened it, still flinching at the sound it made, and quietly slid back into the airship. With every step she took, the warm blanket of other people's slumber wrapped around her. It dragged her down till she collapsed readily back in her seat. Closing her eyes, she felt the rush of sleep suck her inward.

Katara woke to the call that they were descending in the capital. Feeling stiff and sore from her cramped sleeping, she unfurled herself with a bevy of cracks. Moving dislodged whatever had collected in her chest overnight, leaving Katara to trail after the other two while dragging her lungs behind her.

The passengers disembarked before the storage was opened. Katara leaned against a post and used her bending to help dislodge the mucus. The ordeal left her exhausted and she looked as tired as the crew lugging out the various trunks and crates.

Carts and wagons were pulled up to other posts, and the merchants were now taking stock of their inventory as it was loaded onto their transports. Having not anticipated the boom of air traffic, the imperial city did not itself host an airship port. Their landing had been made in what was effectively a vacant grazing ground and would have to be moved when the herds were brought in. To make it into the city was a half day ride, or a two-day walk.

Very different from the last time Katara had landed here.

"Think we can hitch a ride?" Sokka asked as he dragged their shared trunk over to where she was standing.

"For a price, maybe." Katara said as she dampened another handkerchief and wiped her face. Cooling the water in the fabric, she left it on the back of her neck. It was much warmer in the Fire Nation and it made her feel heavy.

"Who's that?" Toph asked and tilted her head to the right. Katara and Sokka turned and saw a woman in a red kimono walking directly toward them. She was their age, but she held herself with an older woman's posture.

They watched in silence as the woman approached them, neither calling out nor waving to anyone. When she did step up close enough, she bowed in the typical Fire Nation manner.

"Hello, my name is Chihiro." She said and straightened. She smiled and Katara was momentarily dumbfounded by how pretty she was. "Suki has sent me to escort you to the city."

Sokka perked up and looked around, moving forward to look past Chihiro.

"Is she here? Suki?" He asked and looked back at Chihiro, who continued to smile.

"No, she wasn't able to get away from the palace." She replied but then turned to look further down the field. "Ty Lee is with the cart."

"That's great!" Toph said. "I haven't seen her since the last time I was in Kyoshi."

"That was a terrible time." Sokka added. Toph blew a raspberry before stomping her feet. The ground under their trunks lifted a few inches.

"There was only one fire and besides," Toph grinned at Sokka. "You weren't even there."

"You were attacked by bandits!" Sokka said. Toph ignored him and started walking in the direction Chihiro had turned. The trunks followed her as the earth slid along.

"Thank you for coming Chihiro. I'm Katara." Katara held out a hand and Chihiro shook it. Her hands were cool and strong, which was surprising.

"A pleasure." Chihiro replied demurely. When she turned to Sokka, Katara watched as her brother shrank a little and blushed.

"I've heard a lot about you Sokka." She said and Sokka looked away as he cleared his throat. He mumbled something and picked up both Katara and his own bags before marching off after Toph. Chihiro watched him go for a moment and then turned back to Katara.

"I am very glad to meet you." She said. Her voice seemed so genuinely honest that Katara felt a little breathless.

"I hope I don't disappoint." She replied with a laugh. Chihiro's smile was more subdued, but more personal.

"I doubt that you will."

Katara felt her face warm and cleared her throat, much in the same way as Sokka.

"How do you know Suki?" She asked and they both started moving to where Katara assumed was the direction of the cart.

"I attend the school she opened. I've been taking lessons with Ty Lee for several weeks."

"But you're a Firebender." Katara blurted. She had seen the shimmering discs that laid like gold leaf on the white's of Chihiro's eyes. The same eyes glanced at her again and Katara had to lower her face mask to take a deeper breath.

"My father thinks it will help me find a husband." Chihiro said lightly. "As if young ladies only desire men."

Katara sputtered and her ears burned as she heard Chihiro laugh softly.

"Are you from the colonies?" Katara asked as she tried to recover.

"Oh no. My family is an old aristocratic clan. One of my great uncles married the aunt of Fire Lord Sozin, so the Fire Lord Zuko and I are distant cousins." Chihiro answered.

"I think that would be enough bait to catch a husband then." Katara said, then added quickly. "If you were looking."

"There are many people the Fire Lord is distantly related to." Chihiro said nonchalantly. "And you know how it goes for daughters."

Katara fell silent.

Walking to the cart proved to be a struggle for Katara. The air was thick with humidity as the Fire Nation was mostly tropical. The sun was also much hotter, as if it was being refracted by the water in the air, and the haze was almost blinding. Luckily, the walk was downhill and Katara focused on where her feet were landing.

The grass was high and thick, obviously a heartier type of grass for the bovids to ruminate over. The stalks bent sharply under her shoes and became a stiff carpet. As they bent, under her and the other passengers' steps, it released a scent. Slightly milky but acidic, which made Katara start to sneeze.

When they approached the cart, Ty Lee was already sitting on the front bench. She started to wave, but froze as she saw Katara.

"What in the unholy blazes happened to you?" Ty Lee exclaimed. Katara recoiled, confused,until she saw where Ty Lee was looking. Touching her fingertips lightly to her throat, Katara looked away.

"I was injured." She replied uneasily.

"Yeah, I figured out that much." Ty Lee retorted.

"A fanatic tried to cut her throat. We had to cauterize it." Sokka said as he tossed their bags into the cart.

"Who-" Ty Lee was silenced as Toph launched the heavy trunks into the air and they slammed down in the cart, almost catapulting her off the bench. While she righted herself, Chihiro gracefully stepped up to the bench and sat down. Ty Lee immediately leaned over and the pair started to share low whispers.

Sokka jumped into the back of the cart and held out his hand, drawing Katara's gaze from the front. She smiled at him as she took his hand, letting him help her up. Toph jumped up just as she got her foot on the boards, almost dislodging her. With a quiet chuckle, Toph sat against the trunks as Katara fumbled herself into the cart.

Moving toward the front, Sokka leaned against the short side to talk to the two women.

"So how have you been?" Sokka asked Ty Lee as she flicked the reins. The rhinox attached the lead grunted and started to plod forward.

"I've been okay." Ty Lee replied and shot a glance at Chihiro. "It's been interesting in the city."

"Have you seen Zuko?" Katara asked, scooching a little closer to the edge of the cart.

Ty Lee shook her head. "No. No one has. The palace is under some sort of lockdown."

"Do you know what happened?" Katara pressed.

"Not really. The Earth Kingdom princess showed up one day and Iroh sent a message to Ember Island right after. Zuko must've been in some sort of seclusion because it took him forever to get back. I think Rin had to drag him to the palace." Ty Lee explained. "Then when he did show up, they announced his betrothal and the doors were sealed shut."

"So how are we getting into the palace?" Sokka inquired.

"My father is a minister, and one recently in favor." Chihiro said.

"Yeah, because he's on the opposite side of Mai's dad." Ty Lee scoffed. Chihiro pulled her lips into a thin line and made an irritated noise.

"Not a fan I take it?" Sokka questioned.

"We all went to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls." Ty Lee said with a grin and Sokka's eyes widened.

"You knew all three of them?" He gasped. Chihiro laughed, breaking out of her sour face.

"And I hated them the entire time they were there." She replied. Ty Lee only shrugged as she faced forward to steer.

"Can your father really get us inside?" Katara asked. Chihiro turned in her seat to look back at her. Holding her gaze, Chihiro looked both serious and serene.

"I will take you all the way to the Fire Lord himself." She said and winked. Flustered, Katara pulled up her face mask and made sure to cough before hunching into herself.

The rhinox ambled down the path, and the cart rolled slowly afterward.


	7. Tea Time

Suki had seen Rin multiple times over the years. The woman was built like most Earthbenders; tall, broad chested, and muscular. Having lived her whole life in Ba Sing Se, Rin often wore the standard tunic of the middle ring citizens, just done in red instead of green. It accentuated her frame and, disregarding any vanity Rin may possess, made her look imposing.

Now, Rin stood rigid as usual but wore the flowing robes of a Fire Nation minister. They were definitely more feminine, with deep sleeves and rich golden embroidery. Her hair, usually pinned up or clipped back, was given a small club while the rest was brushed out down her back. Amid all the other cream faced ministers of the palace, Rin's earthy undertones and dark brown hair made her stand out.

The only familiar thing was the sour expression on her face.

"Rin. I was just looking for you." Suki said.

"I've been in the palace all day." Rin replied. Suki expected more and paused awkwardly before speaking again.

"I was just at your house-" She began and stopped when Rin sneered.

"I have rooms in the palace. As the Fire Lord's personal attendant I should be close by." She stated.

"But your wife-"

"Same sex marriages are not legally acknowledged in the Fire Nation." Rin interrupted. Suki felt cold down to the core of her being.

Everything went blank. Something was happening, something had caused a thrall to overtake the palace. It felt like a blanket falling gently over them, and Suki didn't know in which direction to run to escape it.

"I think it's time we had a chat Suki." Rin said and then gestured with an outstretched arm back to the palace. Suki said nothing, but walked where Rin told her to. She abandoned her kerchief, dropping it from limp hands along the threaded path. Rin made no comment.

As they walked in silence, Suki looked around.

The servants she saw were Earth Kingdom born. A few were plains people, with darker skin and wider noses. They had been dragged out of the interior by some directive, or through a desire for more food. Most were the mixed bloods, the children of the first blended families in the colonies. Gold eyes in faces stamped by the features of the coastal people made her think of hidden children. They had all been collected, chosen for their placement here.

Suki stepped out of her sandals and into the palace slippers. The air cooled as she moved out of the sunlight. More servants were cleaning here, rubbing oil into the old wooden beams till they shone like polished metal. Incense, light and with a pure white smoke, had been placed in sconces at intervals. The palace smelled like linden oil and citrus.

Zinna's house had been bright and smelled like flowers.

Did she know yet that her wife would not return?

"What is going to happen to Zinna?" Suki asked, though she did not turn to look back at Rin.

"I assume she'll go back to the provinces." She replied and Suki's mouth went dry.

After they turned a corner, Suki caught sight of another Kyoshi Warrior. Holding out three fingers down by her thigh, Suki watched the other woman blink before darting away.

Something was about to happen and she wanted her warriors to be forewarned.

It was bad enough they hadn't been able to leave the palace in a month. Not that they had been expressly forbidden, but there was plenty of signs that any reentry would be barred. Messages to the outside world had all but dried up. Luckily, of the few women enrolled at the Ladies Gymnasium, all were some sort of Fire Nation elite. The highest ranking woman was Chihiro, who had taken tea with the Earth Princess' daughter when she was in residence. Because of that, she had a standing invitation to the palace.

Chihiro had a face that looked as painted on as Suki's makeup.

Still, Suki was forced to trust her. She didn't know if, or when, Chihiro would turn on her, but now with Rin behaving so oddly, there were few allies to be had. Trust was a luxury, and use would have to be leveraged.

The two women walked on, heading further into the palace. Servants jingled past them, not even sparing them a glance.

When they finally made it to Rin's office, Suki stepped aside to let Rin open the door. Rin moved into the room, having Suki trail in behind her.

"Shut the door." Rin said as she sat at her desk. Suki closed the door quietly.

"The princess likes the Kyoshi Warriors." Rin began, tapping a stack of straight papers on her desk. "You all are one of few remaining traditions in the Earth Kingdom."

"Thank you." Suki said as she sat down. Rin snapped her gaze up and glowered at her.

"Earth Kingdom traditions do not belong in the Fire Nation." She stated.

Before Suki could respond, the door opened again, and a jingling servant walked in. This was a young woman, younger than Suki, and she kept her eyes focused on her tray. Rin ignored them both as the servant set out the cups and poured the tea before bowing back out of the room.

"I don't really understand where the hostility is coming from." Suki started.

"You and your warriors are causing problems in the palace."

"We were invited here, by Zu-"

"The Fire Lord."

"Excuse me?" Suki stilled again, now in anger.

"You were invited here by the Fire Lord." Rin corrected. Suki took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before reaching for her tea cup. When she attempted to sip, the smell of it made her hesitate. It was strong, like the pu'er Sokka had found in the Foggy Swamp. She touched the tea to her lips to get the smallest taste, blanched, and set the cup back down.

"Zuko and I have been friends for many years." Suki replied, keeping herself and her words calm.

"The Fire Lord has been friends with your boyfriend for many years."

"No. Zuko trusts me. It's why I'm here."

"Trusted you, and yet left you behind to go to the North Pole."

Suki gripped the edge of the desk and felt the tips of her ears warm.

"I went to the Poles with the Fire Lord." Rin added, putting a firm period to the end of her statement.

"That's because you're Iroh's stepdaughter." Suki retorted.

Rin narrowed her eyes.

"And you're from Ba Sing Se." Suki continued.

Rin smiled and sat back in her seat.

"I am the daughter of a war hero, from the same city where the princess was born. I represent just one aspect of this glorious unification between our two nations." She said. "And things have changed. My family has changed, my country has changed. Traditions also needs to change."

"I will go when Zuko sends me away himself." Suki stated.

Rin leaned forward again, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on them. She smiled, like a mother with medicine, and Suki recoiled.

"There's no need for anyone to be sent away if changes were made." Rin said. Then she glanced pointedly at the tea. "That will calm you down."

Suki reached for it again. Then stopped with her hand in the air. She could recall the neat row of tea bushes at the front of Zinna's house. Zinna, as Suki had found out through their conversation, did calligraphy. Her hands were pale and ink stained.

Rin's were tea stained.

"Did you like the tea?" Suki asked.

"Of course I did. The Princess has the best tea." Rin answered.

Suki brought the tea up and stared at the liquid. It smelled like cut grass, souring in the sunlight. Which was precisely how the small, fermented pucks Sokka brought back from the swamp tribe smelled. It would not taste better as it cooled.

Suki remembered a story Zuko had told them. About a plant his uncle found and a choice they had to make.

Holding a breath in her chest, Suki poured the tea into her mouth.

And almost choked as a large crash came from the hall.


	8. Bitter Liquid

From the airship, the mountain of the capital city resembled a soft boiled egg with the top broken off. Once they had landed, the peak just looked like a row of stone teeth. Stories went that long, long ago the massive mountain had exploded, erupting with all the dragons that had ever lived. The royal city was built in the ashes, and protected by the stone crown.

Katara had never approached the palace from below. During the Day of Black Sun invasion, she had not left the lower city by the port. And while the airship had not landed too far away, their view upward was of the stone teeth biting at the bright blue sky. There was an empty feeling with that sight, as if there was nothing on the other side and they would plummet into a blue void.

Clusters of buildings dotted the mountainside. They were the herders' huts, and from a distance, Katara could make out the tufts of creamy wool of gathered koala sheep. It was then that she realized she had never even been on this road before.

When they made it to the Imperial Road, the traffic became more harrowing. The caravan around them - trailing miles long it seemed - was filled with cacophonous noise. The Flower Festival was about to begin, and the week long celebration also boasted a large market. Flowers were free during the festival, but everything else had a price. Sokka and Suki had gone before, on one of the rare trips they took together, and it had ended with Sokka setting a cabbage cart on fire with fireworks.

Merchants with tethered carts jostled for position with restrained politeness, while the families bolted past. Exuberant children brayed along with their tireless jackmules, cancelling out the string of swears left in their wake.

In the heat and humidity, the commotion of the road made Katara nauseous. She hung back while various carts and carriages pulled up, seeing to trade. Either gossip or goods, everyone on the road had something to share.

When they found out Katara was a Waterbender, suddenly hands were pushing children into their cart. This one had a fever, this one had fallen off the wagon and twisted her ankle, this one got bit trying to pet a mongoose lizard.

Katara healed but felt an arthritic strain in her hands. Focusing on the healing, she mended abrasions, smoothed away contusions, and calmed fevers. Behind her, Sokka took in the small gifts that parents, guardians, or guilty older siblings had to offer. The others in the cart paid no attention, except for Toph, who was looking for something to eat.

Occasionally, a few of the wealthier merchants wandered close to the cart. They would watch for a moment, but something would keep them away. It was the most flippant of thoughts, as Katara felt her energy flag.

When the sick and injured finally ebbed away, Katara relaxed against the side of the cart and watched more closely. The merchants would approach eagerly, but once they spotted who sat on the driver's bench, they would quickly pull away.

"Are you feeling okay?" Sokka asked as he scooted over to sit by her. She nodded, but took the waterskien when he offered it.

"I'm tired." She replied and uncorked the skien.

"Sleeping on that airship was nearly impossible." He agreed. Katara smiled and took a drink.

"Hey, when are we heading to the palace?" Sokka asked, turning to address Ty Lee and Chihiro.

"Right after you freshen up." Chihiro replied. Katara choked on the water, propelling most of the liquid out of her nose.

"Someone is certainly gonna need it." Toph added and Katara glared at her.

"So soon?" Sokka asked.

"With the Flower Festival in two days, it'll be impossible any later." Ty Lee explained.

Just getting into the city proved difficult. As they approached the main gate, Ty Lee and Chihiro both produced their citizen passes. Theirs had an extra seal, proving that they also resided within the mountaintop district. The rest of the caravan was stopped, and Katara had looked over the small tent city with curious concern. Fire Nation citizens were being let in as small groups, as long as they could prove they had somewhere to stay. Everyone else were being held, to control the flow into the inflexibly contained city. Sokka wondered aloud how many would ultimately be turned away, sent back down the road to celebrate in the port city below.

A groom met them in the courtyard, and Katara paused before attempting to get out of the cart. It was a nice building, and had clearly been used as some sort of training hall before, but it looked plain. There was nothing to it that made people think it was a school, let alone occupied.

Sokka stretched with a loud groan and Toph jumped out of the cart as Ty Lee came around to them.

"Where is everyone?" Sokka asked.

"They're inside." Ty Lee said and gestured to Sokka for the luggage. "They're waiting for Chihiro."

"Are there any other Firebenders at the school?" Katara asked.

"No, just her. I was surprised that she even wanted to join, but she brought all these girls with her." Ty Lee paused as Toph helped her pull down a trunk. "Which we needed after Mai blacklisted me."

"She did what?" Sokka jumped down and turned to give Katara a hand.

"It's a long story." Ty Lee said, waving a hand. "I'm just grateful for Chihiro."

Toph used her bending to move the heavy trunk along the ground toward the school and Sokka picked up the other bags. Katara hesitated, looking over to see Chihiro speaking intently to the groom, who nodded as she spoke. Chihiro placed a hand on the man's cheek, smiled, and turned as the groom led the rhinox back to its pen.

As Chihiro came around the door and spotted Katara still waiting, her face softened and she walked over.

"Are you feeling well?" She asked.

"It's hot." Katara admitted and Chihiro chuckled.

"That bath will be cool, so that should help." She remarked and then held out a hand. "Shall we?"

Katara placed her hand lightly in Chihiro's and noticed how the other woman briefly stared at the purple. It seemed darker, and Katara frowned, but Chihiro only moved forward, pulling her along.

The inside of the school was cooler, and sparse. The back doors had been slid open and allowed for some air to breeze through. Walking in, Katara felt like she had stepped into bizarre version of a training hall in Kyoshi. The school was built too much like a residence, and the floor plan was smaller. Mats had been laid out in the center, but hadn't seen much use.

"What was this building used for, before?" Katara asked.

"It was a genteel ladies' school. Like the Royal Academy but for the commoners." Chihiro explained. "They taught music, flower arranging, tea ceremonies, those sort of things."

"They didn't learn anything?" Katara questioned.

"When are girls ever allowed to learn anything useful?" Chihiro quipped and then shook her head. "That was what private tutors were for, if your parents allowed it and if the tutors felt it was appropriate."

"Did you have tutors?"

"I had my parents, that was enough."

Chihiro led them all through the school and Katara noticed how the other women were in fact waiting for Chihiro. They rushed to her, asking for news and obediently scattering when she gave them tasks. Ty Lee trailed behind them, looking lost in her own thoughts.

It didn't look like a lot of training had been happening, and the dormitory on the upper level looked barely used. Ty Lee, as the official head of the school, kept a private apartment on the first floor, but even with the futons folded in the closet, Katara could tell no one had slept here.

The students here were not like the women in Kyoshi, where anyone could join and be trained. Neither were they like Toph's students, who only had to meet one requirement to enter her school. They were all of elite families and had known both Chihiro and Ty Lee from their time at the Royal Academy for Girls.

Whatever training the common stock girls received, it was no longer here. Even with all this empty space.

"Isn't the exhibition supposed to take place during the Flower Festival?" Sokka asked.

"Because it doesn't seem like you're ready." Toph added.

"I think Zuko forgot about us." Ty Lee said.

"The silence from the palace has been total." Chihiro agreed.

"Must be a busy guy." Toph muttered.

"Whatever the case, we will need to hurry," Chihiro said, in an equally dissatisfied tone. "It's best not to keep the Fire Lord waiting."

Chihiro took them out into the back garden and there Katara could tell that this had been a school for high society girls. Behind the school was a large pool that had been crafted by hand. A false waterfall splashed at the back and smooth stone steps led into the clear water before them.

"Where's the bath?" Sokka asked. Ty Lee and Chihiro glanced at each other and laughed. Sokka turned a dark shade of red.

"I have never before been so thankful I'm blind." Toph said and started pulling up her shirt.

"But I'm not blind!" Sokka blustered.

"If it makes you uncomfortable, we can have a bath drawn inside." Chihiro said and waved at a few of the other women. "But we have women here who have bodies like yours and men with bodies like mine."

"I, I'll be fine." Sokka grumbled. "Just no laughing."

"Only if there's something to laugh at." Chihiro said and patted his arm.

"And if Suki is telling the truth, you'll be fine!" Ty Lee added with a shout.

Katara snorted before bursting into laughter as Sokka crouched down and covered his face with his hands.

She turned away from her brother, mostly out of his own need for privacy than her own, and began to undo the ties of her tunic. Her fingers were stiff and fumbled with the polished bone buttons. Looking down, she felt her heart fall into her stomach seeing the darkness of the purple.

"Do you need assistance?" Chihiro asked.

"My joints hurt." Katara replied in lieu of an answer. Chihiro didn't reply but deftly unbuttoned the tunic. She slid around Katara, opening the top and gliding it off her shoulders. The shift came next, then the underclothes.

Then Chihiro gasped.

"That is a lot of purple." Chihiro remarked.

"I know, my hands are-" Katara stopped as she looked down at her hands. Her fingertips looked like they had been dipped in purple dye. The rest of the purple trailed upward, following the threads of her veins.

"And here." Chihiro whispered, lightly touching Katara's shoulder.

"What's happening?" Sokka asked from the other side of the bath. Chihiro stepped quickly around Katara to shield her and helped her step into the water.

"Just trying to get to know your sister better." Chihiro retorted.

"Oh, so you're that sort of girl." Toph interjected.

"I'm an all sorts, sort of girl." Chihiro said primly and Toph laughed.

Katara tried to relax, but as soon as she was submerged, she still looked at her hands.

They bathed and were presented with an array of outfits. Toph fussed - ironically calling the whole act fussy - but was coerced into an Earth Kingdom style dress. The rest were more of the new Fire Nation fashion, and obviously had been borrowed from a Fire Nation household; the only colors were red, black, and gold.

After dressing, they were ushered back out of the school and found a carriage waiting for them. The groom, now equally as washed and polished, stood holding the reins of a Sika Lizard. When they entered, Chihiro climbed in after them, and the groom closed the door.

"Is Ty Lee not coming?" Katara asked.

"Ty Lee has a delicate relationship with the palace." Chihiro answered.

Ty Lee popped up in the window and laughed.

"I haven't been welcome since I found out about Riku." She replied. Katara started and felt Sokka's hand tightened around her arm.

"Riku?" Katara repeated.

"One of Ty Lee's few secrets. She won't tell anyone about this mystery woman." Chihiro said. Ty Lee laughed again and stepped back from the carriage, waving to them as it started off. Katara and Sokka shared an uneasy glance before turning to Toph. Her bracelet shivered uncontrollably.

When they did arrive at the palace, there was no one they knew to greet them. Katara knew this would not have been tolerated when Chang oversaw the household. Then again, had Chang survived, none of this would have even happened.

But Riku had survived, living safe and happy with her new family and no past.

"This whole place feels wrong." Toph muttered when they finally made it inside. They had been presented to guards with Chihiro's introductions, as if they hadn't saved the world. They were escorted past the gates, as if they hadn't known Zuko before he was Fire Lord.

It was like stepping into a foreign world.

Katara had never gone up the mountain to get to the palace, had never entered through the front gate, and had never waited. The palace, after its cleansing preparation, gave the hall where they sat a smell of citrus wax. Servants walked by, their linen pants swishing like brooms, and glanced at them with suspicious glances. Chihiro passed out tteok, commenting on how they had not eaten; the rest knew it for the warning it was and not the shameful admonition they had hoped it to be. They might be waiting for awhile.

Normally, it was the custom to send tea. Normally, they would not have expected to wait.

Katara looked down at the small glutinous cake. Not being able to swallow with her dry throat, the nibbled half laid in her purple hands looked like a geode. The jujube paste was too sweet.

Sokka gulped a handful down easily, making an idle comment about how the red bean paste was always a little gritty. Chihiro's face, tight with some sort of anxiety, attempted a small, polite smile.

Toph only added that everything was too sweet, chewing her own nonetheless.

Chihiro looked wound up, kneeling on the red cushion at the other end of their line. It was a drastic contrast to the breezy flirtatiousness the woman had been exuding since this morning.

Looking up, Chihiro caught Katara staring and gave her a more genuine - albeit slightly frazzled - smile.

"Did you like them at least?" Chihiro questioned. The rest of the cakes were already hidden in Katara's pocket, but she held up her bitten one like a coin. Chihiro relaxed and Katara lowered her hand.

"Sokka and I are used to foods with more, salt." Katara stated.

"You could never tell Sugar Queen." Toph remarked and Sokka snorted. The pair, having found the remnants of a small broken bell, were reclined and tossing it between them. For once, Toph was playing nice and only sent the mute bell slamming into Sokka's forehead a few times.

"I have a bit of a sweet tooth." Chihiro admitted.

"Did you make these?" Katara asked. Anxiety tightened Chihiro's shoulders again.

"They aren't bad!" Katara added in a rush. "I was just curious."

"I did." Chihiro answered, her voice halting. "One of the few feminine skills that stuck I guess."

"I try the girly thing every once in a blue moon." Toph interjected. "It's highly overrated."

"I don't mind the girly thing." Sokka said. "I just wish the Kyoshi dress was faster to put on."

"I was always curious, which takes longer to apply, your wolf thing or Suki's makeup?" Toph asked.

"It's about the same. They Kyoshi makeup is way less greasy though so removing it is absolutely faster."

"Huh that's-" Toph sat up and turned her head to look down the hall. "Someone's coming."

Seeing Rin, Katara almost started to cry. It couldn't be too bad; if Rin still held her post as Zuko's secretary then it couldn't possibly be that bad.

They hadn't seen Rin since the engagement ceremony, and Katara was confused to see the tall woman wearing the flowing robes of a minister. At least she still looked much the same: perpetually annoyed.

As they stood up, Chihiro bowed but Katara started forward. Just as she started to greet Rin, Toph reached out and grabbed her arm.

"She's not right." Toph whispered sharply. Almost as if the purple were pockets of ice water, Katara felt the rush of frozen fear gush from her fingertips and race to her chest.

"The Fire Lord has been expecting you." Rin stated shortly. She stepped to the side and gestured with an arm.

"Then why have we been waiting?" Sokka exclaimed. Toph grabbed him as well and he, startled, looked at her.

"Oh." He said. It was heartbreaking, hearing how defeated he sounded.

Rin scowled at the huddled trio and glowered down at Chihiro when she approached.

"We are thankful for the Fire Lord's patience." She said and bowed again.

"I will escort you to the throne room." Rin replied. The tall woman then turned sharply and started walking down the hall. The others trailed after her like turtleducklings.

The wood of the palace was dark, and the way only got darker as they moved toward the interior. They swam through the murky corridor, wondering what was lurking underneath.

Zuko had hated this part of the palace. The throne room was where his father had traded Zuko's life to become the next Fire Lord. Nearby was the war room where Zuko had earned his father's ire. The dark wood and massive torches felt like a pyre that only burned the living.

Rin walked briskly, so at least they didn't have to linger in the tinderbox. When they came to the massive doors of the throne room, Rin spoke to the guards posted there. One moved away, and Rin stood back, holding her clipboard down in front of her.

"So we're waiting again." Sokka muttered.

"He's in there." Toph whispered. The ice water in Katara prickled.

"Is he?" She asked, her question incomplete. No breath seemed to stay in her lungs and her extremities began to dissolve.

Toph shook her head. "He's too far away for me to tell."

Rin turned to look at them and Sokka stretched with a loud yawn.

"I'm still starving." He said. Katara, needing to do something before her hands dissipated, grabbed her hidden tteok.

"Here." She said.

"Are you sure? You should be eating too." Sokka said. Chihiro's head snapped around on her neck, her wide eyes focused on Katara.

"You haven't eaten?" She questioned. Her voice was so desperate, it frightened Katara a bit.

"I'll be okay. The purple hasn't gotten any worse." She replied. Chihiro started to move back toward her.

"No, that's not-"

They all froze as the doors creaked open. Chihiro whispered something but Katara was already focused on the throne room. She was pulled forward, gliding past Sokka's outstretched hand.

Only Rin moved faster, guiding them in.

As they entered, before they passed each pillar, fire erupted out of the torches. The path was illuminated by unseen Firebenders, and Katara feared they would light the fire screen. While Zuko had ordered they been dismantled, it had proven impossible to remove the oil troughs without damaging the stage.

As they neared, however, only the two pillars on the stage were lit, allowing them to see the throne.

To see Zuko.

He was supposed to look different.

After everything that happened, after everything that had changed, he should have changed. And he had, in a way. He was less pale, and both of his eyes, somehow, seemed relaxed. But he was supposed to be masked again, wearing a face that wasn't his. One that he would lift and this whole charade would be over.

He didn't even look at her.

They bowed. They knelt.

And Zuko looked over them as he would examining a selection of tea cups.

None of them spoke.

"It's so good to see you again." Zuko said and smiled.

It wasn't his smile.

"We didn't get to talk at the engagement ceremony, but I was hoping you would visit." Zuko went on. He either didn't notice their silence or didn't care. Or both.

"Where's Suki?" Sokka demanded. Zuko's face smoothed out and he blinked.

"Off with my guard I imagine. There's a lot to be done for the festival." He said.

"Does she know I'm here?" Sokka demanded. He rose to his feet, his fists clenched at his sides. "Bring her here!"

Guards began to approach but Zuko held up a hand.

He was wearing such heavy clothes, Katara marveled that he had been able to move his arm. Her body had finally dissolved in the purple water. She was frozen, sitting in a frozen room, staring at the love of her life.

Was her face a golden mask now? Was she now meant to be mute?

"Rin, please go and find Suki. I don't wish to have my friend so upset." Zuko said. Rin bowed and walked down the side of the stage, leaving through some darkened door.

"Zuko, what is the matter with you?" Sokka seethed. He startled though, as Zuko turned to him and finally looked at him. Zuko's face now held only disdain.

He looked like Azula.

"Sokka, we're in the throne room. Miss Hirasawa requested an audience for you, despite this being a very busy time. You should be respectful, and address me by my title." Zuko explained patiently. Stunned, and looking like he had been hit with a steel beam, Sokka sagged back down to his knees.

There were tears in his eyes.

"I beat your blood." Sokka whispered.

"I don't want our visit to be unpleasant." Zuko said, smiling again. "I have sent for some tea."

Zuko's heart was beating steadily. He was calm.

"Miss Hirasawa," Zuko continued, addressing Chihiro. "You said there was something important to discuss?"

"I was merely working on behalf of your friends, Fire Lord. As they have been in Republic City and wanted to speak with you before taking in the festival." Chihiro explained. She lied so easily; her anxious demeanor had disappeared and her pulse was even and strong.

Suki had gotten them here, had wanted them here, but for what?

"The festival is going to be very exciting." Zuko said and looked over at the three of them again. "I'll make sure you all are added to the invitations for the events here at the palace."

"That is very gener-" Chihiro started but spooked as Toph slammed her palm against the floor.

"What is going on here?" She yelled. "What is wrong with you?"

The guards inched closer again, and Zuko frowned as he waved them away.

"There's nothing wrong with me." He said. He relaxed and smiled again. "In fact, everything is about to get better."

"How-" Toph cut herself off.

She didn't need to say anything, they could all hear the bells.

The main door to the throne room was behind them, Rin had exited down the left side of the stage, to the administrative wing.

The bells came from the right.

Katara heard the doors open and there was the sound of bells and rolling wheels.

A slender woman in a patterned dress of green, gold, and red walked in. Behind her was a train of four servants, pushing four separate trolleys.

The young woman glided along, the full skirt of her dress hiding her feet. Her thin, pale neck was held straight, supporting the ornate braids of her hair. The trolleys followed after, just as smooth and silent.

"My bride, I didn't expect you to serve the tea." Zuko said lightly, fondly. Katara's purple heart calcified.

Xianji, daughter of the Princess of Anyan, bowed demurely to Zuko.

"It would not do for me to be inhospitable, as your esteemed mother was a gracious hostess." Xianji replied. She then turned and the servants each rolled a trolley in front of Katara and the others.

"I am not as knowledgeable as the Fire Lord's esteemed uncle, but my mother has a fondness for tea. I have selected a special blend for each of you, to welcome you as the friends of the Fire Lord." Xianji said and bowed to them.

Only Chihiro bowed in return.

"Princess, you are too kind, but Katara is ill." Chihiro stated. Xianji raised both hands to her mouth and regarded Katara.

"Is this true? Are you ill?" She asked. She looked so concerned.

"Allergies." Katara answered.

"Miss Hirasawa's father is a chemist. I can send for him, if you like." Xianji said and turned back to Chihiro. "Did you not see him before coming here, knowing that such an important friend of the Fire Lord was ill?"

Chihiro's back straightened yet she lowered her head.

"My apologies Princess, we didn't want to be late for our time with the Fire Lord." She murmured.

"Please forgive me, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. I hadn't realized you were ill." Xianji said and bowed. When she straightened, she gave a gentle smile. "But my mother agrees that sometimes tea is the most curative medicine."

"Please," Xianji said. "Drink and be welcome."

The servants poured the different teas simultaneously, placed the single cup in the center of a laquered tray, and then moved to kneel before each of them. As they set down the tray, Sokka looked from side to side to glance at Toph and Katara. Chihiro took her cup, and Katara followed with a hand she could not feel. Toph took hers and, with a sigh, Sokka grabbed his. The other three drank, while Katara held the cup in her hands.

She could feel the water, tiny blips of it in cups and pots. She could feel heartbeats, tapping as tiny drums inside of her. She could feel the energy pools in some.

The slender bride was an Earthbender.

She could not feel the heat of the cup, or her body, or her own heartbeat.

"Why is she here?" Toph interjected. "You're not married yet."

Xianji frowned and leaned away from Toph's outburst.

Katara swallowed half of the tea in one gulp.

"I will be making two very important announcements at the festival this year." Zuko said. "The first being my wedding plans."

"Before the council meeting?" Sokka balked and coughed a little as he tried to inhale his tea.

Katara swallowed the rest.

"It seems prudent, given the topics that will be discussed at the meeting." Zuko answered.

Toph was muttering something to herself, obviously mocking Zuko, and tilted the tea cup up to her mouth.

After she swallowed, she tossed the cup back down on the tray. Sokka, looking defeated, continued to drink his.

"And what's the other announcement? Where you'll be honeymooning?" Toph asked.

"Unfortunately, it's nothing quite so nice." Zuko said.

The servants were collecting the empty cups, placing them precisely in the middle of the tray, and standing to return the trays to the trolleys.

Katara felt like she was fizzing again, giving an outline to her body. The downside was that with some sort of body, the purple liquid flowed into her head and the room started to shift.

"Katara?" Sokka asked.

"Then what?" Toph pressed.

The room darkened, yet the torches seemed to burn much brighter. Katara felt the fizzing give shape to her stomach, and it entered reality with a sour slosh.

"Due to his crimes, and the unrest he is creating in my country, Ozai will be executed prior to my wedding." Zuko said.

Her lungs had not returned in time. Breathless, Katara fell to meet the pitching floor.


	9. Blood Pact

The Spirit had a mission. The Spirit and the body had an agreement. The Spirit and the body both wanted the Waterbender and the egg.

Finding either, let alone both, would be difficult.

After covering the body and moving away from the South Pole, the Spirit collected the available resources. The body had memories, plans, and a name. These things would allow the Spirit to travel, however, because of certain names and plans, not very publicly.

The body was Aluki, and the Spirit became Aluki.

Aluki sat in a small tea shop, deep within the Earth Kingdom, chewing apathetically on a rubbery steamed bun. It had taken the whole season to get here, finding her way through coded maps and secretive sigils. It had taken so long that she wondered if her information was outdated; she had been waiting at this shop for four days and he had yet to appear.

The owners of the shop were unbothered by her lingering presence; they had at first wondered if she was Katara, seeing her blue eyes set in her dark face. Katara, the Waterbender she was searching for. The one who owed her something for all of this trouble.

The steamed bun was finished and Aluki felt around in her pocket for the stolen purse. Clothes, transport, and money had been hard to come by. She had been required to slaughter a man in Yupik to find clothes that covered her wounds, to hide the perpetual glow of spirit energy.

More travelling required passage, food, and places to rest. Some things were procured through theft. Some through murder.

She made sure not to kill a Waterbender. That was the least she could do, with their numbers so few.

"It is you."

Aluki looked up from the purse and saw the man she had been waiting for.

"So it would seem." She replied, and gestured to the seat across from her. Aktuk shook his head.

"No, we should talk elsewhere." He said. Aluki stood and tossed some coins on the table. She cinched her purse closed and slipped it back into her pocket.

The pair did not speak again as they walked together. Aktuk didn't even look at her, but Aluki didn't mind. The memories she had of her brother were fond, but ultimately loveless.

They had been born and raised in a small village in the South Pole. Theirs had been closer to the Southern Air Temple than Haida, and stories were told about the history between the two people. Women who carried an Airbender's child were not scorned but celebrated. Their progeny considered to carry a loftier bloodline.

Their mother had been born of a Waterbender mother, with an Airbender father.

When the Airbenders were wiped out, their mother was protected and elevated for her status. She was like a princess, if not an earthly god. She was both Sedna and the Moon Spirit, incarnated in one being.

Growing up, their mother had made it a mission to instruct them on the importance of their quarter-Air Nomad bloodline. The importance of the spirits and their innate connection to the other world being of both water and air.

For years, their mother kept waiting.

Waiting for either of them to prove to be the Avatar.

"Water is next." Their mother would babble, forcing them through exercises for hours on end.

They were beaten, sent out in the darkness with no clothing, and burned.

"Water is next." Their mother would state at each failure. Aktuk and Aluki could bend water, better than any other, but nothing else.

When Aluki began her first blood, their mother knew it was over. Neither was the Avatar, and it was all their fault. She would starve them and make them sleep outside of their hut without a lantern. Other families tried to take them in, but she fought them back.

One night, Aluki woke to Aktuk standing in their igloo, holding a shining lantern. His face was covered in blood.

"We have to go." He said.

They left, and as the sun was rising, they saw the black snow falling.

They went north, moving through the Fire Nation itself by cutting down any who approached them. They wouldn't bend, and Aluki learned how to use a blade no matter how dull it was.

Aktuk, moving her onward again, took her into another shop. It was for dry goods, and they moved past dusty shelves of tarpaulin and rope. Aktuk nodded to the sleepy looking man behind the counter. The man nodded back, and Aktuk led her to a back room.

"The order told me you were dead." Aktuk said.

"A spirit revived me." Aluki replied. At his questioning look, she lifted up her shirt. Aktuk leaned forward, his fingers touching the skin around the puncture. The hole itself glowed with silver-blue light.

"What happened?" He asked as he stood back. Aluki lowered her shirt and regarded him.

"I cut Katara's throat and the prince impaled me with an icicle." She answered.

"We picked poorly with Amaqjuaq."

"You said he was perfect."

Aktuk glared at her and Aluki only stared back at him.

"He was willing to rip apart the world for his parents. And Arnook didn't seem interested in anything but grieving his daughter. Even Xai Bau thought it was a good match." Aktuk said.

"You waited too long."

"We couldn't get the South Pole slut out of the Earth Kingdom."

"Where is she now?" Aluki questioned.

Aktuk shook his head and waved her question away.

"It doesn't matter. Xai Bau has abandoned that route." He muttered. Aluki advanced on him.

"I didn't say anything about Xai Bau. I want to know where she is." She said, her voice low.

Aktuk looked at her.

"She's in the Earth Kingdom. In Republic City." He said.

"What are the new signs?" Aluki asked.

"You can't go. Xai Bau wants you back to report on what happened in the Oasis."

"I didn't say anything about Xai Bau." Aluki repeated. "Tell me the signs."

"You're not going on a vengen-" Aktuk's words came to a gargling halt as Aluki grabbed him by his throat. She lifted him, now with both hands closing off his airway. And stared at him.

"Then you will pay a portion of your sister's bargain." The Spirit hissed.

Aluki's mouth fell open and silver-blue light came out.

The Spirit became Aktuk.


	10. Cut Away

The heaviness of her body and the liquid pooling around her made Katara think she was still in the South Pole, recovering from her fight with Aluki. But even as she was unable to move, she could tell the room was different. It was drier, and warm in the way a place would be if it only ever knew heat. The poles knew warmth as an item to be hoarded among pelts and hearths.

Movement around her made her thoughts swirl like dust. Her arm, unknowingly lifted, was now set down.

"...miscalculated." A man's voice brushed past her. It was not a voice she recognized and he sounded older, like her father.

"...moving pieces….." A woman's voice. Familiar and young.

"...almost died." The man sounded angry.

"...clearly was not…." The woman sounded angrier.

"...give the princess…." The woman, still angry, tried to keep her voice low.

"I would…." The man, sounding much calmer know, became a sturdy point in the room.

There was the sound of sloshing water, but Katara could not feel it. She tried to reach out with the part of her being that could bend, but the water remained out of reach.

"...planning to cover this up?" The woman asked.

"...our family to it. It would tie up…." The man replied. Katara tried to focus, to understand what was being said around her.

"No good deed goes unpunished…" The woman said. The shock of a wet cloth being placed on Katara's forehead made her body twitch. She felt awake now, finally, but her body was still too heavy to move. Even her eyelids were like iron.

"We have always done our duty to the throne." The man said. "Even if that includes death."

The man left and the woman sighed. There was the sound of more water as it fell back into a bowl, and more cooling moments as the rags were placed on Katara's body. Forehead, neck, wrists; cool water and cleansing herbs to bring down a fever.

Then a small touch, a hand in her own.

"I'm sorry." Chihiro said.

And then Katara was alone.

When she woke up again, Katara found herself in a large bedroom. It was unlike any guest room she had seen in the palace, and was filled with the buttery morning light. Sitting up, Katara tried to figure out what happened.

She had been poisoned, again. The effects of it had been neutralized either by her own body or through some assistance.

She was in Chihiro's family home, and Chihiro had been involved in her poisoning. The question was, at what stage? And, if she had done the poisoning, why had she saved her?

Another question, somehow more pressing to Katara than the poison, was the whereabouts of Sokka and Toph.

Throwing off the blanket, Katara pushed herself out of bed and was grateful when her legs didn't buckle when she stood. The clothes she had worn to the palace were gone. And the room she was in clearly did not intend to be used by a permanent resident. There was no clothes press or hanger, and as Katara expected, when she opened up the closet there was only space for the futon she had been sleeping on.

At each side wall was a door. One was illuminated with light.

Marching across the mat floor, Katara slid open the lit door. A chaotic garden teeming with flying insects and buzzing birds greeted her.

Just from sight, Katara could see six different medicinal bushes. The princess had said Chihiro's father was a chemist. Poison would not be difficult to cultivate with such a profession and with such a garden.

Seeing no one else outside, Katara walked out onto the small porch and shut the door behind her. The sun was very warm, and the shift was wearing was very thin. Still, Katara jumped lightly down onto the ground, wincing as treenut husks stabbed into her bare feet. Walking through the garden, Katara noted edible flowers, dozens of herbs, and a wide variety of fungi. Some were poisonous, but still common plants used in specialized treatments. Hidden away, tucked among other similar flowers, were one or two aborticants.

Nothing more nefarious, whether it could be disguised with sister plants or not, seemed immediately obvious.

As she tried to find her way around the house, looking for the gated entrance, Katara was surprised to find a gardener. The woman was hunched over a plant, taking a small pair of shears to delicate leaves. The woman was covered against the sun, but Katara could only imagine how sweltering the cloth could be.

"Are you looking for something?" The woman asked, still clipping at the plant.

"The exit." Katara replied.

The woman stood and regarded her. Katara liked the other woman's hat; the wide brim had a veil of with boxy lace, so covering her face and neck from bugs.

"Not like that. It would be scandalous, having a naked woman leaving the house." The woman said.

"I'm not naked."

"It might actually look better if you were. Then people would just assume you were mad." The woman tossed her clippings and the shears into a basket.

"Come with me." She said, picked up the basket, and walked away.

Katara followed obediently, still looking out for certain plants. The gardener directed her back to the house, but through the front door this time. Inside, the woman set down the basket on a small table before taking off her hat.

"Chihiro," The woman called out. "Did you lose something?"

The mother, of course. Katara sighed as Chihiro's mother set her hat on top of her basket.

"Are you feeling better now?" The older woman asked. At first, Katara wanted to make an accusation, but was wary of the woman's eyes. They were brown, but just as sharp and uncaring as Mai's.

"I am. I assume your husband took very good care of me, and I must thank him for it." Katara said instead. The woman gave her a smile that matched her eyes.

"I can assure you, we all helped." She said.

Katara stared back at her, but turned as someone else came up to them. Chihiro, looking panicked, flicked her gaze between Katara and her mother.

"You're up." Chihiro said.

"Thanks to you." Katara said, her voice dark. Chihiro calmed and straightened, holding up her chin.

"I will have to send word to the palace. Your brother will be relieved." She said.

"Where is he?" Katara demanded, stepping forward.

"At the palace, as my daughter just said." Chihiro's mother moved past Katara and handed Chihiro the basket and hat.

"Go take that to my room." She said, then turned to Katara. "Come with me."

Chihiro stared at them as they walked past, and Katara could feel the dirt on her feet as she walked across the mats. This was a noble's house, and yet no one seemed to care how filthy she was. Perhaps that was the difference station made.

"I would not recommend that you return to the palace." Chihiro's mother said as they stepped into a small room.

"I need to see Sokka and Toph." Katara retorted. "We came here together."

"I don't think-" Chihiro's mother was cut off as a bell rung in the distance. Her eyes narrowed and she flipped open a basket, pulling out a tunic and pants.

"Put this on." She whispered.

"I won't-"

"You will. Or I will make sure you don't have enough breath left to speak." The woman hissed. Fear gripped Katara's heart but she took the clothes. As she pulled them on over her shift, the woman left.

As her shaking hands shoved the bottom of the shift into her pants, Katara heard the front door open.

"Ah, hello. I'm afraid we weren't expecting guests, so I've just come in from the garden. You must excuse my appearance." Chihiro's mother said lightly.

Tying up her pants, Katara exited the small room and headed back toward the entrance.

"We came to see my sister." Sokka said and Katara almost tripped on the pant cuffs as she ran.

"Sokka!" She said and halted.

Sokka turned to her, and smiled with a blank face. Toph was wearing a dress and had her arm tucked through Sokka's.

"Katara, I'm so glad to see you well. After you fainted, the princess was so worried." Sokka said.

"We're so grateful that Chihiro was around." Toph added, but didn't look at her.

"What's happened?" Katara asked softly. The fear had been replaced by horror and she glanced at Chihiro's mother.

"You fainted, probably due to your illness." Sokka said. "But now that you're healthy, you can join us for the Flower Festival at the palace."

"The Fire Lord has been very generous." Toph stated.

Katara staggered backward and felt hands tighten around her arms.

"As you can see, your sister is still not completely well." Chihiro's father said. "My wife took her out for a stroll in the fresh air but it has tired her."

"That is unfortunate. But she can be treated at the palace." Sokka said.

"Of course." Chihiro's mother replied. "We will send her along shortly."

"We will take her now." Toph said. Katara could feel the dirt on her feet pull away from her. Sweat immediately sprung from her hairline and she tried to pull it down.

None of it moved.

"She hasn't yet eaten. Surely you will not have an ill woman go without sustenance?" Chihiro's father said.

Sokka's face tightened but as he put a hand on Toph's arm, the dirt under Katara's feet stilled.

"We will return for her." He said.

"We are so thankful for your patience." Chihiro's father replied.

They all bowed and Sokka and Toph left the house. Almost as soon as the door had shut, Chihiro's father released Katara.

"You are a danger to our family." He said.

"We don't allow danger into our home." His wife said.

"What did you do to them?" Katara demanded, spinning to face them.

"Treated them as guests, as you clearly saw." Chihiro's mother said.

"That's not-" Katara said but stopped as Chihiro's father advanced.

"I don't care about them, and I don't care about you. I care about my daughter." He said.

"So you need to leave." Chihiro's mother said.

A servant came and took Katara back into the small room, shoving her down onto a stool. When he stepped away, Katara looked around, trying to figure out where she was. Tools and thick gloves were hung on pegs, and the clothes she was wearing her stained but cleaned. A servant's closet then.

This servant grabbed hair and yanked. Just as she started to protest, he left go.

Or, actually, her hair released her.

"What-" She started and the man tossed the long tail of hair into a bucket. Tears filled her eyes and Katara was too stunned to move.

Facing her now, the man shoved boots onto her lap before tossing a thick pair of socks at her.

"Hurry. I have to get something for the scar." He said. Numb, Katara leaned forward to pull on the socks and didn't even hear as the boots tumbled down to the floor. Her hair did not surge forward and she felt a cool breeze on the back of her neck.

"Quickly." The man snapped. As Katara started to cry, he sighed impatiently and knelt at her feet. He tugged up the socks and shoved the boots onto her feet, tying them up quickly. Then he stood and wrapped a handkerchief around her neck, taking care to keep it loose.

"Let's go." He said and yanked her up. As they returned to the front room, Chihiro's mother held a new basket filled with fresh cut flowers.

"It's close enough to the festival that many shops are trying to sell their blossoms before they have to give them away. You'll look like one of the workers." She said.

"The girl is too dark." The servant countered.

"A colonial bastard."

"Her eyes."

"No one cares about a bastard."

Chihiro's mother handed Katara the basket just as her husband walked into the room.

"Leave now. We have to construct your escape." He said. Katara only stared at him and the servant pushed her to the door.

He opened it and shoved her out.

"Go." He ordered and slid the door closed in her face.

Blinking, Katara turned and stumbled off the porch, nearly losing her basket of flowers. The boots were half a size too big and slid off her heel with every step. She felt like a child, clomping along in her father's boots, moving down the stone path.

She reached a gate and opened it. She stepped through and closed it.

The imperial city bustled around her. It was the last day before the festival and the roads were clogged with people and carts. The air smelled like crushed flowers and spice. Sunlight poured over her but she felt cold.

She couldn't breathe.

Her fingers tugged at the handkerchief around her neck, feeling it tighten as she struggled. Someone bumped into her and she stumbled; bright pink flowers dropped onto the gray stones like paint. The world reeled and Katara wonder for one lucid moment if she hadn't actually been cleansed of the poison.

"Are you okay?" A man, sounding frantic. More hands on her and Katara tried to jerk herself free.

"Please, you need to sit." The man was more earnest now and gently guided Katara down. She was suddenly in the shade and the difference made her step back into herself.

"Do you need water?" A young woman asked and handed her a cup.

"Thank you." Katara said. She took the cup as the man took her basket and she drank. The water was cool, and made her feel a bit calmer.

"The sun can be dangerous if you're not used to it." The man said.

"My hair…" Katara trailed off and started to reach back to touch it.

"Looks like you went to a butcher instead of a barber." The woman said.

"Riku." The man said sharply. Katara looked up.

Mother of Faces could not change Azula's eyes.

Riku stood in front of her, swinging the basket of flowers so that it tapped lightly against her legs. Her hair was longer and pulled back to show off a much rounder face. Katara hadn't noticed before that just as Azula had resembled Ursa, so did Riku resemble Noriko.

Riku frowned and tilted her head.

"I know you." She said. Katara nodded and turned to face Noren. He looked back at her, surprised. Then he nodded and turned back to Riku.

"She was with us during the autumn. After your accident." Noren said. Katara, feeling numb and empty, sat back and continued to drink the water. The table held the remnants of a meal, and there was a squat teapot sitting on a stand.

"With the Fire Lord?" Riku inquired. Katara focused on the teapot, trying to feel for the liquid inside of it.

"Yes." Noren replied.

"Then why does she look like a peasant?" Riku asked.

The teapot was mute and Katara scowled as she lifted her hand.

"Riku, that's not nice."

Perhaps the teapot is empty.

"I'm sorry father but she's filthy."

"That's not-"

"Why is she staring at the teapot?"

"Katara?"

Katara turned and looked at Noren.

"I can't bend." She stated.

"Probably because your hand is gross and purple." Riku said and set the basket down. She moved to the table and grabbed the handle of the teapot as Katara stared at her hands.

They were completely purple.

Riku poured out a cup of tea and set the teapot back on its stand before handing the cup to Katara. The tea had gone cold, she had seen it in the other cups, but this one was steaming.

Riku's bending was doing much better.

"Of course, firebending can't be blocked so easily. The other styles are simply too weak." Riku said.

"Riku!" Noren snapped and Riku rolled her eyes.

"I think the princess is trying to kill me and I have to leave the city." Katara said in a rush, looking into both the cup of water and the cup of tea. The liquid stayed quiet.

"Then why are you still in the city?" Riku questioned.

Noren whisked them all away, back to the apartment he kept with Riku. It was small, but due to its existence inside the stone crown, was much nicer than most Katara had seen in her travels. Still, Noren apologized as he picked up discarded coats and socks while Riku took the flowers into the kitchen.

"Riku and I tend to have a much more relaxed relationship with laundry." Noren said with a laugh.

Katara stayed silent as she walked further, looking around at the rest of the clutter.

A thin stack of papers had been neatly collected, and Katara pushed lightly at the sheets with her fingers. They were letters from Noriko with a few pages of Kiyi's drawings interjected.

Zuko had the same handwriting as his mother.

"Noriko is still waiting for the Mother of Faces. She wants to remember all of her children." Noren said softly as he walked up behind her.

"I don't think that will matter much." Katara said. "Riku seems happy and someone is making sure Zuko can't function on his own."

"What has happened to Zuko?"

Katara shook her head and looked around the room again.

"He's being controlled, but I can't tell by whom or for what reason." She said and shrugged. "Maybe it's the Earth Kingdom, but maybe it's a bunch of Fire Nation nobles trying to take over."

"But you said the princess wanted to kill you? Who is that?"

"Xianji is Zuko's fiancee. But her mother rules the kingdom of Anyan, and is also a princess. But none of that might matter because their could be a conspiracy to use the Earth Kingdom marriage as a way to get rid of Zuko. So maybe the princess doesn't want to kill me. Who really knows? Maybe," Katara started to laugh and put her hands into her hair. "Maybe the only people I've talked to are lying about the whole thing but I'm so stupid that I'm traumatized by a haircut and believe them."

"Katara-" Noren said and Katara could feel him reaching for her. She spun and slapped his hand away, feeling hot tears stream down her face.

"And I can't even bend. How am I supposed to save anyone if I can't bend?" She snapped.

"I can bend." Riku said. Katara sniffed and rubbed her eyes along her arm.

"Sweetheart, this isn't-" Noren started but was interrupted by Riku.

"I want to help the Fire Lord." She said.

"Why?" Katara questioned.

"I know he pays for this apartment, and my doctors, and my teachers. Father says that it's because my mother had another husband and had a child and the previous Fire Lord is the reason why I don't have a brother anymore. So I know this Fire Lord is trying to help me. If I can help him, then I won't owe him as much." Riku shrugged. It was so bizarre to hear her ramble and speak so frankly. Everything about Azula had been calculated and cruel.

"There's nothing you can do to help." Katara said.

"Looks like I can do more than you can at the present." Riku countered.

"You have appointments, Riku." Noren said. Riku rolled her eyes and threw herself down on a couch.

"Stay here tonight Katara. We'll get you out of the city tomorrow." He continued.

Riku did have appointments to keep, and Noren made his apologies as they left Katara in the apartment. Alone now, Katara wandered through the rooms. It was small and the tiny piles of clutter made it feel smaller. Noren, ever the actor, had script pages in various stages of editing tossed across most of the surfaces. In the bedroom, the two futons were still laid out and Katara found more paper.

An angry drawing caught Katara's eye and she crouched down to look closer. Brushing some of the papers away with her fingertips, she revealed the image.

With only a charcoal stick, the images were still very clearly of birds made of flames attacking a cowering figure. Another paper depicted a larger version of the flame feather birds, this one with a crown of spikes. The final one she saw was of two dragons, one biting into the others neck while being impaled with its claws.

The biting dragon had a scarred left eye.

Back in the sitting room, Katara found more papers, though kept in an orderly stack. On every page was Riku's name along with other names and the title MATSU INSTITUTE at the top. Various doctors recorded every interaction, every diagnosis, and every medication. Riku was being treated for mild dementia praecox with lithium salts and opium. Katara knew about opium, having been educated in its uses as a pain reliever and calming medicine. Everything else was completely foreign.

Sitting down on the couch, Katara idly touched her hair again. For a moment, she believed she had been poured into the wrong jug. Her hands were not purple, she was a Waterbender, and her hair was long enough to ensnare the Fire Lord's fingers. But none of that was true. The poisons had finally and completely dissolved her body and now she was someone else.

The world was showing her that this was true. Her brother was no longer her brother. Zuko was no longer her lover. Her home was not in the Poles and the Avatar did not seek her out. She was just a colonial bastard with blue eyes and dye stained hands.

Katara stared at her hands.

Between Riku's appointments with her doctors and her firebending instructor, Noren brought back some lunch. Noren tried to outline some plan of getting Katara out of the city safely. Leaving before the festival wouldn't normally be such a problem, except that now the city was actively looking for her.

In just the course of a few hours, an announcement had been issued that Katara had been overcome by a fever and gone missing. As she was a close, personal friend to the Fire Lord, and with the politics as they were, the palace had demanded that Katara be found before something horrible befell her.

The gates, both in and out, were now being meticulously guarded.

"We'll try to get you out as soon as possible, but you may have to wait out the festival." Noren said.

"That's incredibly dangerous for you. It's only a matter of time before they track down the secret apartment the palace is paying for and check it out." Katara countered.

"We don't really have another option." Noren said. "Not a safe one."

"Nothing is safe father." Riku said as she gathered her pills in her hand. "Only the ones afraid of fire are the ones who are burned."

Riku stared at Katara as she put the pills in her mouth and took a drink of water.


	11. Moonlight and Caverns

"Go to her."

Sokka woke from his dream with a start. He was panicked, and could feel his heart trembling. He looked around, dazed, and felt the night breeze stick to the coolness of tears on his face.

He had fallen asleep in a garden. The garden was familiar, but Sokka had no recollection of getting there. Looking up, he stared at the bright face of the full moon.

"I don't understand." He whispered.

"Excuse me?"

Sokka turned and saw a palace guard approach. Stiffening, he tried not to panic.

"My name is Ming." The guard said. She seemed just as hesitant as he.

"How did I get here?" Sokka asked. His confusion deepened when Ming seemed to give a sigh of relief.

"I'm not sure. But I'm glad you're back to your senses." She replied.

"My senses?" Sokka repeated in question. Ming looked around and then faced him, shaking her head.

"We can't talk here. Come with me." She said and beckoned. Sokka followed her back into the palace, realizing he had exited through Rin's office. They moved quietly, and Sokka stumbled when Ming suddenly grabbed him and pulled him through a narrow opening in the wall. Ming shut the door behind them and they were both sealed in darkness. It gave Sokka some vertigo, and he fell harder than expected into the wall behind him.

"Sorry, I'm not a bender." Ming whispered. Then she grabbed his hand, guiding him forward. "Come on, there is a torch further in.

"Where are we going?" Sokka asked.

"Somewhere safe. Away from the servants." She replied.

They turned a corner and Ming stopped them. When she released his hand, Sokka again felt like he was suspended in a void. He heard her click something, could almost feel the grind of metal against metal, and then saw a tongue of flame erupt. It illuminated a small portion of the dark, and Sokka watched as Ming touched the flame to a torch head. When it caught, Ming flicked the lid of the lighter shut and shoved it into her pocket.

"We're almost there." She said.

Sokka knew about the secret passageways. He and Zuko had use them multiple times when they wanted to get around the vast palace without running into Mai, or Rin. So it was alarming when Ming dragged him through another opening, and Sokka could taste the dust in the air. Ming handed him the torch while she shoved the door closed, and Sokka looked down at their path.

The stone stairs were also unexpected.

"I don't really like the idea of going down some creepy stairs with a Fire Nation guard I don't know." Sokka stated.

Ming chuckled when she took the torch back.

"I'm a friend of General Iroh's. I used to bring him tea when he was imprisoned in the city." She replied. Ming paused, but didn't turn back to Sokka when she spoke.

"He saved me during the Day of Black Sun." She added. Sokka sunk a little, feeling awkward, and Ming moved down the stairs.

"Sorry about that." Sokka said as he followed her.

"That's war for you." Ming said lightly. "I just didn't expect it, since I was only a prison guard."

The stairs were old and had been worn down from years of use. With the film of dust making them unreliable, Sokka kept one hand on the wall. The wood quickly disappeared, however, and Sokka could feel the rough stone catch at his skin.

Volcanoes were common in this area. Zuko had told him about the chain of spouts at the ocean floor, and how one had pierced skyward to make the larger island of the Fire Nation. After a massive eruption, the volcano fell dormant, and the first Fire Nation settlers created the two kingdoms.

Rivers of magma still existed just under the crust of the island. Sokka had seen one first hand of course. It had terrified him, and the thought gave him anxiety at random moments when he would visit the palace. Zuko laughed it off, though it gave him a different sort of anxiety.

The most prestigious families of Firebenders could bend lava afterall.

Just not Zuko.

That might have been the reason why they never traversed down here, or else even Zuko was ignorant of this staircase. The royal safe room was away from the palace and Zuko had never even mentioned this.

Sokka frowned as he moved deeper down the throat of the volcano. The air was stifling - both too warm and too sedentary - and he struggled to keep from coughing.

"I swear we're close." Ming said.

"Close to where?" Sokka questioned.

"There's a cavern here. Apparently Fire Lord Sozin made it and kept a lot of secret stuff here." Ming said. As she was speaking, Sokka could feel the promise of moving air and his throat tightened on dust.

"How did _you_ find it?"

"Well," Ming hesitated. "I was trying to get away from the servants - they don't like any of the royal guards - and I knew there were secret passages. I just started tapping on a random wall, and found this one."

They reached the bottom and Ming raised her torch to illuminate the stone door.

"Please tell me you can open it." Sokka said.

Ming chuckled again. "Not in the slightest."

"Then how did you get in the last time?"

"It was open last time." Ming grinned at him. "But don't worry."

She knocked against the stone door; the soft _pat_ of her skin against the rock sounded mute. Sokka sighed, just as the door shook.

The door jumped backward and a gust of cool air rushed in, blowing out the torch. There was light in the open cavern, and Sokka gaped as they walked in.

The igneous rock was pockmarked, rough, and gray. But dotting every surface were pools of obsidian, some looking like black ponds suspended on a wall. The stairs and the cavern had been made by bending lava, which made Sokka feel like he was standing in the mouth of a terrible beast.

"Come on." Ming said and started to walk further into the cavern.

There were a number of people standing around a large wooden table, talking to each other. Sokka approached slowly, still uneasy, and watched them. One figure turned as Ming walked over, and she seemed familiar.

"Sokka?" The figure called out.

Sokka straightened in recognition and hurried over.

"Linh!" He said and the two rushed to embrace.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Linh said in a rush, then stepped back. "I'm so glad you're here."

"What's happened?" Sokka asked.

Linh looked pained and then turned to gesture at the table.

"We'll have to explain." She said and they moved over together. "Do you remember anything?"

"I remember seeing Zuko and, getting ill? I don't know. But then I woke up in a garden." Sokka explained.

They stepped up to the table and Sokka looked at the others. There were five people, and outside of Ming who was still a stranger, he recognized none of them. One was a small woman, with a mottled complexion and two different colored eyes. Another was a taller, older woman with wrinkles so deeply set her face looked like a carving. A pair of men were a version of the women; the younger one was tall and thin, while the older man was missing an eye and about three days past his last shave. The fifth stood off, watching the others.

"Everyone, this is Sokka. Sokka, this is the resistance." Linh said and the small group laughed.

"Shin-hye is the Earthbender, she's from a colony and works in the laundry." Ming said and the small woman raised a hand in greeting. "Izota and Koji are guards, Chuluuny is a cook, and Leung over there is a scribe."

All the others nodded or mumbled some greeting and Sokka only blinked.

"What is going on?" He asked. Ming and Linh shared a glance, and Linh sighed.

"We're not completely certain. Only that someone in the princess's retinue is brainwashing everyone in the palace." She said.

"Like the Dai Li?" He asked.

Sokka and Suki had told Kyoshi all about the Dai Li and it had become a favored one to pull out during feasts. Linh shrugged her shoulders.

"Perhaps, but we don't know how it happens, only that it happens quickly." She said.

"I know the tea is part of it." Chuluuny added. "It makes everyone more suggestible."

"Who handles the tea?" Sokka asked.

"The servants. They don't even allow us to boil the water." She replied.

"And now with the princess here." Koji said and shuddered.

"But why?" Sokka frowned and rubbed his forehead. He tried to remember what had happened before he had fainted. Before he had woken up in the garden.

"We don't know." Linh said.

"Mostly because we don't know who's behind it." Ming added.

"Who has been affected?" Sokka asked.

"The Fire Lord, clearly." Izota answered quickly. "There's no other reason for him to pick such a rice cake of a wife."

"Rin went a few weeks ago, and now her wife's missing." Ming said. She again looked over at Linh and Sokka glanced between them both.

"That was when the princess arrived." Linh said, then finally faced Sokka. "And when Suki was served tea."

Sokka reeled and grabbed onto the table.

"Anyone else?" He asked, his chest heavy.

"Toph. She was with you." Linh said. Sokka snapped his head up to look at her.

"Me?" He repeated. Linh nodded.

Sokka stared back down at the table, trying to think. He had gone to see Zuko, yes, and Toph had been with him. Xianji had brought the tea, but delayed after Chihiro had said…

"Katara." Sokka stood up and looked around at everyone.

"Where's my sister?" He questioned.

"We don't know where she is. Chihiro's family took her and then she escaped." Ming said.

"So they say." Izota growled. Koji finally elbowed him, but Sokka moved around the table.

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked.

"Izota." Ming said, but Sokka held up his hand.

"What do you mean?" He repeated.

"The Hirasawas are poisoners. The husband is a chemist and the wife is a botanist, between them they can kill an army of men." Izota stated.

"You don't know if that's true." Chuluuny snapped.

"The last Fire Lady was a poisoner, we all knew that too." Izota spat back, then turned to Sokka. "She was a fantastic woman, may her ashes lie in peace, but we all know she poisoned Fire Lord Azulon."

"We don't know that!" Chuluuny interjected.

"We do because she did, and she got the plants from the Hirasawas." Izota countered.

"Is my sister dead?" Sokka grabbed Izota and Koji immediately grabbed Sokka's arm.

"No one knows." Izota said calmly. "But she can't be safe as long as she's in the Garden of Death."

Sokka released the man and walked away.

"I have to go get her." He said. Another hand touched him and Linh stepped around to his side.

"Sokka, the best way to keep her alive, is to pretend you're still under control." She said. "And the best way to get out of this is to help us get Suki back."

"What about the other warriors?"

"We're doing the best we can, but it's hard with her being…" Linh drifted and looked away.

Sokka sighed, trying to relax. He patted Linh's hand and, when she looked back at him, he held her hand between his own.

She smiled, and Sokka tried to smile back.


	12. Enemy of My Enemy

After dinner, Noren and Riku cleaned up while Katara sat at the table with a cup of tea. There were no real partitions in the apartment, save for bedroom. One small step acted as a border between the front and back rooms, and the front door bisected the kitchen from the designated eating section. But with just those minor alterations to an otherwise open box, it worked. Katara felt like she was seated in another room, watching the father and daughter through a doorway.

Noren tried to joke with Riku as they washed the dishes. Still haughty, Riku merely flipped her hair and kept drying.

Azula was the same age as Katara.

During the Agni Kai, when she had come face-to-face with the crazed princess, Katara had remembered being shocked by her youth. They had seen her before, and the makeup had made her seem older. The viciousness and cruelty reminded Katara of Hama. When she realized that Azula was not actually a gnarled hag, Katara became more frightened.

As she learned later, Azula hadn't even had her first moon's blood before that fight.

They were both twenty-one now.

Whatever the Mother of Faces had meant to take, so much more had disappeared. Riku was still like an adolescent, and had a hard time working through basic concepts. Noren had insisted on maintaining her schedule, so he had pulled out the day's receipts and talked about their purchases. Riku, not being able to grasp the concept of making change, had gotten frustrated and threw the purse into the sitting room.

What settled inside of Katara wasn't pity, but a similar sort of sadness.

When Katara had finished her tea and the dishes were put away, Riku showed her to the communal toilet down the main hall. They washed and returned, both of them changing into one of Riku's shifts. Noren made his apologies for not having clean blankets and then left the two alone, shutting the only real door in the apartment.

If a step had made a barrier, the door sealed them into another world.

Riku settled into her futon while Katara turned down the lamp. Neither of them spoke, and Katara took longer to lie still just to make noise.

Their breathing became a type of dialogue.

They didn't try to pretend to be asleep, and Riku's breathing was even. Katara kept holding hers, indecisive about what she would do. Finally, when the lights went out in the sitting room, Katara let out a breath.

"So you've gone mad too." Riku whispered. Katara blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"I suppose." She replied.

"You have. I should know." Riku turned onto her side to face Katara. "So why did you go mad?"

"They cut my hair." Katara answered.

Riku was silent for a minute. Her breathing stayed the same, so Katara knew she wasn't drifting off.

"I don't like getting my hair cut." Riku said. "I don't like mirrors."

"Neither does Zuko." Katara replied, a little too quickly.

"My mother talks about him. Or she asks my father a lot of questions about him." Riku stated.

Katara hesitated. "His mother came from Hira'a."

"Did his mother know my mother?"

"Yes."

"That makes sense then." Riku paused again, and her breathing became softer. It was intentional, though, and Katara knew she was thinking.

"Why is the palace trying to kill you?" Riku questioned.

"Because I want to save the Fire Lord." Katara replied.

"Then I'll help you." Riku said.

"How?"

"I know how to get you out of the city."

Katara raised herself up on an elbow.

"How?" She repeated.

"Noren spends his time with playwrights when I'm in my sessions. He has some costumes and makeup." Riku said.

"I don't think it'll be that easy." Katara countered. "Dressing up makes people look at you more."

"People like to look at beauty, not pain." Riku said firmly. "You'll see."

They waited till Noren fell asleep before Katara turned the lamp up just enough so they could see. Riku went to the closet and pulled out a small box. Katara opened it, examining the cosmetics inside, while Riku carefully lifted the lids of two boxes.

The kimonos were costumes, and cheap ones, but were still beautifully stitched. Riku glanced from one to the other, nodded, and laid one on her lap. Then, without another though, she ripped the seam on one shoulder. Katara barely flinched.

Riku did the same when it came to the cosmetics. She painted Katara's face patiently, then abruptly smear her hand across Katara's cheek.

"I won't tie your's too tight. Make it look like it's coming off." Riku said and handed Katara the ripped kimono.

"How is this supposed to work?" Katara asked as she put an arm through the ripped sleeve.

"The flower festival is about flowers and beauty. No one wants a damaged blossom in the bouquet." Riku replied.

When Katara didn't say anything, Riku sighed and turned, rolling her eyes at Katara.

"No one wants to see a battered prostitute during the festival." Riku clarified and Katara recoiled.

She had heard about the Night Blossoms. They were entertainers; beautiful women who were hired to play music or pour tea at a fancy party. Sure, some of them went home with people and came away with a fee, but that wasn't what they did.

"It'll work. Now come on." Riku snapped and went to the door.

Noren, laid out awkwardly on the couch, was snoring. Riku shook her head as she walked through the sitting room, heading to the front door. Katara followed, suddenly feeling cold and shivering.

The apartment building was quiet, but as they exited out to the street, the heat and noise buffeted Katara. She swayed on her sandals making Riku shake her head again.

"At least you definitely look the part." She muttered and stalked off again.

Again, the smell of flowers, but now there was the aroma of roasted meat and burning wood. There were less people on the main road, but they were louder. Fire Nation festivals took on a frenzy due to the amount of fire that was integral to each one. So even with the sun long since set, the people rallied around the mundane facsimile.

Elbows and backsides bumped and jostled them down the road. Muttering to herself, Riku finally reached back and grabbed Katara's hand, yanking her forward. At first, Katara tried to protest, leaning away from Riku's grasp, but someone slammed into her side and she moved forward again.

"These peasants don't know how to behave." Riku muttered louder.

Riku pulled her off the main road and the noise dissipated with the distance. Dropping Katara's hand, Riku wiped off her kimono as they walked.

The rest of the way through the city held pockets of revelry, all of which were flowing down to the river they had just escaped. Riku didn't hold her hand again however, and Katara struggled to keep up.

All at once, they were at the gate.

"I need your pass." The guard said to Riku.

"I told you, that won't be possible." Riku said, her voice harsh and grating.

"We can't let anyone out without a pass." The guard replied.

"Look, I just need to get her out of here before I get in serious trouble." Riku said, jutting her thumb back at Katara. The guard, now noticing her, glared.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"No one. That's the point. Look at her." Riku now grabbed Katara's wrist and yanked her with enough force that Katara stumbled. It wasn't about showing the scar, but only to present her smeared face. But that wasn't what the guard saw.

"Look at what he did to her." Riku grabbed Katara's face again, pushing her chin up.

"We get this colonial bastard from an Earth Kingdom brothel, and her very first night she pisses off a customer." Riku shoved Katara away.

The guard, uncomfortable, looked away from her.

"She doesn't have any ID and I certainly don't need her attached to mine. But hey, you can't let anyone out? Fine. You keep her. I have work to do." Riku tossed up her hands and turned around, already walking away.

"Wait." The guard called. He looked nervously over at Katara and then back to Riku. "Get her out. If you're going to come back, you better do it before sunrise, or else no one else will let you in without ID."

Riku smirked and walked back toward him.

"Aren't you so kind." She said. Then she turned sharply and snapped her fingers at Katara.

"You. Let's go."

Katara ran to Riku's side and lowered her face as she passed the guard. Not that she needed to, he had already turned his back to them.

Outside the gate, a smaller version of the festival was occurring. With the gates closed until Katara was found, some had chosen to wait it out. A communal bonfire was still burning hot, and a ring of people danced while a few others played various instruments. One exceptionally generous and incredibly drunk merchant handed them both a crumpled handful of flowers.

"Please, youthful Night Blossoms, give me your blessing." He slurred and sloshed in his boots, pouring himself down onto a knee. Riku only had to smile and give a small nod and the man bellowed with happiness.

When they made it through the cluster of carts and wagons, Katara paused and regarded Riku.

"Thank you for helping me." She said.

"I'm not done."

"What?" Katara halted and stared at Riku.

"How are you going to get anything done? You're a Waterbender who can't bend wearing a costume kimono with no money." Riku stated.

"I-"

"When have you ever had to do anything by yourself? When have you ever been forced to deal with something horrible without a friend or fat uncle?" Riku winced, making a sharp exclamation and grabbing her head.

Frozen, it took Katara a moment to go to her and Riku pushed her away. Holding up a hand, Riku squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed the heel of her palm against her forehead. Letting out a slow breath, Riku straightened and faced Katara.

"I'm sorry. When I get angry, my head hurts." Riku looked exhausted and Katara frowned. "I don't want anyone to touch me when my head hurts."

"Do you have your pills?" Katara asked.

"Yes. Because unlike you, I'm not helpless." Riku retorted. "All I need is a drink of water but you can't help me with that now either, can you?"

Katara bristled but watched as Riku walked back to the carts. She found a family and spoke to them, laughing suddenly in a way that caught Katara off guard. More so when Riku turned and beckoned her over.

"This is my cousin Mizu. She's from the colonies and couldn't handle the festival." Riku said as Katara approached. An older woman, the mother of the clustered family clicked her tongue sympathetically.

"Oh you poor things." She said.

"I hope this teaches you young ladies not to sneak out." The man, her husband perhaps, added sternly.

"Absolutely." Riku said earnestly.

"Well, I think I have something that might fit you two. My twins have been begging for kimono and they're about your size." The mother said. As she stood, Katara immediately thought of a brooding hen cat. With broad hips and a long dress, the woman had been hiding a number of small children under her. A few toppled over, having been asleep against their mother's body, while the others scampered into the shadows.

The mother returned and held up two red tunics.

The twins and Katara were not of a size.

Katara struggled to fit into the pants, muttering about the thin figures of Fire Nation women under her breath. She had not regretted the weight, but she certainly wished more people in the world looked like her. And made pants.

"Are you okay dear?" The mother came around the cart and asked.

Red faced and huffing, Katara turned and let go. The pants wouldn't go over her thighs.

"I know that struggle." The mother stated with a smile. "You'll have to tuck in your backside."

As she turned, the woman patted herself and Katara chuckled. When she was finally dressed, she came around to the front of the cart. Riku was already there, nodding as she listened to the father explain something.

"I'm ready." Katara said. Riku glanced at her and nodded.

"Let's get back before anyone notices." She said.

"Oh I'm sure they noticed." The man quipped. "You just better hope they're nice enough to pretend they didn't."

"Thank you." Riku said and grabbed Katara's arm.

The family waved as they departed, and Katara awkwardly turned to wave back. When they were far enough away, she quickly wrenched her arm out of Riku's grasp.

"I can get by on my own." She said.

"Do you even have a plan?" Riku questioned.

"Well…"

Riku sighed with exaggerated irritation.

"Just waiting for something to fall into your lap? How typical." She muttered. Katara narrowed her eyes at the comment.

"Is it the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom who's trying to kill you?" Riku asked.

"I'm, not sure." Katara stammered.

They reached the Imperial Road, and the step acted like the one back in the apartment. Suddenly, they weren't in the capital. The multiple fires glowed as one, illuminating the horizon behind them like a tiny setting sun.

It was dark out in the open and the air, carrying nighttime coolness and the sounds of sleeping animals, felt like it should be visible. There should be silvery threads, like a spider's silk, ensnaring all of an evening and dragging it along the map.

Perhaps she was mad. Perhaps Mizu, who was not a Waterbender and had dye stained hands, could see threads in the night air.

"Tell me about the princess." Riku demanded. Her voice was like a loose rock, and Katara almost tripped.

"Her name is Xianji-" Katara started.

"-the daughter of Ruan, princess of Anyan." Riku interrupted. She sniffed before continuing. "Ruan's a smart one."

Katara, ignorant, stayed quiet.

"Her daughter I don't know much about. A passable Earthbender." Riku added.

"She seemed kind of…" Katara drifted and Riku snorted.

"Dumb? Lots of princesses are. Or girls who think they're princesses." She said.

"Mmm." Katara looked away, even with the darkness hiding her features.

"Dumb doesn't mean less dangerous though."

A flame erupted in Katara's vision, making her jump. Riku paused and moved her hand, looking around.

"What is it?" Katara asked.

"We'd be lucky to make it halfway down by dawn at this rate." Riku said and strode off the road.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked, jogging to follow her.

"Finding us a better way down."

Riku hopped over a low wooden border fence and Katara began to see the faded outline of a cart. As the fire moved on, the ostrich lizard that pulled it was sleeping against one wheel. Grumbling, Katara vaulted over the fence and stomped after.

"We can't steal from these people." Katara said while Riku recalled her flame.

"You're right. We should take the moral high ground and you can get murdered by some guards." She retorted and roused the ostrich lizard. The beast squawked as it lumbered upright and Katara looked around wildly.

"The shepherds are all drunk by now." Riku said. "Come help me."

The most fascinating thing about Azula, in Katara's mind, was how she treated her body. Azula had worn makeup, kept her nails long, and made sure she was properly groomed. When she was trailing after the Avatar, Azula rode as hard as any soldier. Yet still she always looked regal. She was a well-kept sword; honed and polished, ready to be used.

Zuko had no regard for his body, often punishing it unnecessarily. His was a blood-stained blade, misused and sheathed unclean.

But now his rested on a wall, retired from battle, and Azula's was stuck fast in a different sheath.

Riku's round face was dirty from wood smoke, and her thin body clattered inside the tunic like a bell. Katara had seen how the edges of her nails had been picked at; one of Riku's anxious habits.

But parts of her mind were still sharp, still very much Azula. Riku knew her, in a way that went deeper than her actual memory. And her years of education, to take on whatever throne Ozai had planned for her, had clearly not been erased.

So Katara stared at Chang's murderer with grievous indecision.

They rode down and Katara stared up at the sky. While at Noren's apartment, Katara realized that she had been unconscious in Chihiro's home for at least half a day. This was her second night on the island, yet to her, she had come up with the sunlight and now retreated with the dusk.

The road was steep with sharp switchbacks, and the night was very dark. They would approach soft orbs of light, finding wagons pulled off the road to sleep through the night. Their lamps or dying cook fires became tiny lighthouses, keeping them on course.

With the cart, they were making good time, but the mountain was tall.

"Do you think the princess is trying to kill me?" Katara asked.

"How should I know?" Riku snapped.

"You're the one with all the ideas." Katara retorted. To her surprise, Riku laughed.

"You're right, I do." She stated bluntly. "But I also know next to nothing about what's happening."

"So why did you help me?" Katara asked.

"I told you, my mother talks about the Fire Lord a lot." Riku replied. "She asks my father about the city, if it's safe.

"I used to think it was because of me, since I have to go to the Institute. But I realized they were talking about politics.

"There's a group called the Fire Purists that's making my mother nervous. I hear more about them in the city, and some of them think the Purists are freaks obsessed over a conspiracy theory. But my parents seem to take it seriously." She explained.

"What conspiracy theory?" Katara asked.

"Apparently, they think the Fire Lord's sister is alive and they want to find her. So they can replace the Fire Lord with Sozin's true heir." Riku said.

"What do you think about that?"

Riku shrugged. "I told you, they're freaks. I hear they've got some disgraced Fire Sage who says he's the rightful husband of the missing princess and will be able to sire an heir to rival Sozin."

"That's disgusting." Katara remarked.

"That's the reality of royal marriage." Riku muttered.

They rode down carefully, but quickly enough that they were at the docks by dawn. Exhausted and feeling queasy, Katara watched as Riku led the ostrich lizard off to ditch the cart. When she returned, Riku made a face at Katara's sour expression. With no reprimand forthcoming, Riku led her down the docks.

A number of ships were in port, but only one had any activity. It was a smaller ironclad and the crew was hauling crates up a ramp. An older woman smoking a pipe stood on the deck, watching the people scramble over the ship.

"Excuse me." Riku called out. The woman turned and Katara regarded the scarred visage frankly. A cable of some sort had clearly slashed through her face, taking out her right eye. Without a patch, the empty socket was a knot of gnarled flesh.

"Yes?" The woman rasped.

"Where are you headed?" Riku asked. The woman turned away.

"We don't carry passengers." She said.

"Please." Riku pleaded. Katara whirled at the tone and saw Riku's eyes water.

"Please, we made a mistake. We, we wanted to see the city. But this woman, sh-she kept us in her house. And they, they-" Riku sobbed just as the woman turned back. Katara went to Riku and held her.

"We escaped during the festival. We just want to go home." Katara whispered.

"You escaped something alright, but you're lying." The woman said.

Riku straightened and wiped her face.

"I'll pay you." She said.

"You certainly would, if I took passengers." The woman replied.

"We really do need to get out of here." Katara interjected, stepping forward. The woman stared at her and, when Katara didn't look away, gave a small smile.

"And why do you think I'd want what's followin' you to be followin' me?" She asked.

"Because a dead end means we have nothing left to lose." Riku said and regarded her nails. "And a dead captain would buy us some time."

Katara tensed and leaned back, but the woman barked a laugh.

"Fine, but passage is steep for latecomers." She said.

Katara rested against a sack of rice, thankful for it's unyielding presence against the rocking of the docked ship. Riku was already asleep, simply lying on the floor with her sandals propping up her head. Their passage had been paid for with a purse Katara had never seen before; stolen from some family's wagon as they passed through. Perhaps the drunk flower seller paid for his blessing with more than flowers.

The hold they were in was filled with cargo. The ship - a newer vessel named Shinju - was run by Captain Thuy. Her crew was amicable, even if one or two were obviously former pirates. They were heading to Republic City and carried bulk supplies. Captain Thuy stressed this, adding that they kept an accurate count on everything they carried, including foodstuffs.

Katara was too tired to care.

The ship groaned as the engines roared to life. While it slowly pulled away, the rocking eased and Katara relaxed against the scratchy burlap. Closing her burning eyes, she tried once again to feel for the water under her. It slapped against the metal hull and sloshed under her, but she couldn't reach it.

Unable to open her eyes again, Katara floated off into sleep.


	13. Royal Tea

The morning came with tea.

Sokka woke, again, in his own bed The meeting in the obsidian cavern had not lasted long. The group explained what little they knew before Ming brought him back up the dusty stone steps. In the hall, he felt the presence of people but saw no one, and the sensation of being watched crawled up his back.

Still, he had done this long enough, he could handle one walk.

Sokka was not often well received in court. The ministers didn't like him, Mai didn't like him, and Rin certainly didn't like him. And for Zuko's sake, he tried to behave. He wore his best, most princely clothes when inside the palace. Outfits that he would have mocked as a child, but now he had grown accustomed to. And it reminded everyone he met that he was a peer of the Fire Lord's, not just his goofy friend.

In the nights, however, the energy had always been different. The guards didn't care and the servants couldn't be bothered. It was only if Mai caught them out and about that there was ever an issue. Admittedly it was because their night wanderings usually including exiting the palace and returning in various states of dishevelment.

This night and this walk felt so much worse than anticipating Zuko's angry girlfriend.

And, as his heart sank, Sokka realized how much he would rather running into Zuko's current angry girlfriend.

Katara was alive. He didn't know how he knew, but she was. Something about the moonlight told him. Every time they passed a window, Sokka glanced upward and tried to recall the threads of his dream.

In his mind, he thanked Yue. Why she continued to look after him, he would never know.

Ming bowed when they reached his room. Sokka held himself stiffly, to keep himself from thanking her, and walked in. As the door shut, he let out a breath.

They had been in danger before. But they had never been put into a position where Sokka had to be restrained. For everything to work, for him to be able to help, he would have to do some unusual acting.

Getting into bed, he stared up at the ceiling.

"Huh. I could just act like Paw-Paw." He stated.

When the jangling servant came into the room, Sokka yawned loudly. Keeping his sleep wrapped around him, he mumbled unintelligible words while taking the tea cup.

Chuluuny insisted that she had a way of circumventing the tainted tea. She didn't know what went into it, since it could be either the tea itself or an additive, but she did know of a counter.

"Whatever the case may be," She had said in the cavern, giving Izota a harsh look. "The former Fire Lady did know about plants. She once showed me a book of herbs for cooking and in it was a section about healing. This one was to keep from getting sick when a person ate something they shouldn't. It neutralizes it."

The word had been borrowed from Ursa and sounded odd coming from Chuluuny's mouth, but Sokka had to trust her.

With a small smile, Sokka brought the tea cup up to his mouth and drank as quickly as the heat would allow.

The plant had been dried and crushed into powder, then dusted lightly into the cup while the servant prepared the tea. The only concern was if the servant would notice the powder before pouring. And no one would be able to know if they had until after Sokka drank.

When he had finished, Sokka put the cup back onto the tray and smiled again as the servant bowed. The man bowed and walked out, shutting the door behind him. Sokka listened to the bells growing softer before falling back onto the bed.

The tea would work in under five minutes.

Sokka thought about all the people who would have their tea poured today. Zuko, Suki, Toph, and Rin were known to be under the tea's thrall. More curiously was the question of Xianji, Zuko's bride-to-be.

The head servant among the Earth princess's retinue seemed ambivalent about Xianji. He was Ruan's man, and spoke often about he had been selected specifically by the princess of Anyan. Xianji was quiet, overly eager to please, and reminded Sokka of Joo Dee in every way.

The purpose of it all hinged on Xianji. Izota was convinced that Chihiro's family was behind it all, but it didn't explain how Xianji was enthralled. But as the rest of the group argued, Sokka kept quiet.

It wouldn't be the first time the Dai Li and the Fire Nation teamed up to cause problems.

Sitting up, Sokka slapped his hands on the blanket. The powder had worked, but he had to get ready for the next stage.

Just as he rose, he could hear the main door to his rooms open. He was glad that he had requested the traditional flap be replaced by a wooden door. It gave him a few extra seconds to prepare and put on what he assumed was the mirror of Pakku's sour expression.

Maybe he should have gone with Rin, he was more familiar with her grump face.

His bedroom door opened and Sokka could barely keep himself from seizing.

Another servant, a woman with bells, followed by a Kyoshi Warrior.

His Kyoshi Warrior.

There was not enough powder to protect them all, and it became a game of chance to see who the rebellious group could get to first. Zuko was impossible as he was constantly watched. Rin wouldn't take visitors and Suki now barely left Zuko's side.

Barely.

Guidelines had to be placed in every person who drank the tea, and it had to be done quickly. No one had been able to tell him what that entailed, but everyone knew it was overpowering.

Just like with Joo Dee, the guidelines were to command how they were to act, what to say, and how they thought. So when Suki only looked at him with bored eyes, Sokka understood what some of those guidelines were meant to be.

"Good morning Sokka of the Water Tribe." The woman said softly. She also carried a tray with a small bronze bell and mallet. Handing the tray to Suki, she picked up the bell and mallet in either hand.

With a quick tap, the bell gave off a deep vibration that Sokka could hardly consider as sound.

"You are the guest of the princess Xianji." The servant said as the vibrations faded. Sokka swallowed, fearing for this leap of faith.

"I am the guest of the princess Xianji." Sokka repeated. The servant smiled. Sokka relaxed

And so Sokka learned the rules of the palace.


	14. Open Waters

A/N: This chapter was updated to address a plot hole that I got stuck in. The old chapter 14 is now chapter 16!

The Shinju was a modified junk built in the last decade of the Hundred Years War. Captain Thuy was its third captain, though she had been the quartermaster under the last. Katara had tiptoed around the deck on their first day, making herself useful in order to find out anything remotely helpful. Her hands, as stiff as they were, still remembered how to handle ship rope from the boats of her village. When the crew realized she could be put to work they were nicer and spoke freely of their ship and their captain.

Thuy had been injured by a snapped rope during a storm. Her eye had been lost but she tied a dirty bandage around her head and scrambled up to fix the large fin shaped sails before they were ripped away. She then, of course, took ill and lay in bed with a fever until they made it to a safe harbor.

Her crew said the fever was spirit induced and which gifted her a spirit's eye that allowed her to see things no mortal should. Thuy, having overheard this particular conversation, snapped at them, calling their stories nonsense. But they were all superstitious and Thuy often looked toward things with her empty eye before calling out some warning that proved true.

They moved slowly over the sea toward Republic City and would take them a week alone to reach the tail of the island chains. Junks in general were large but faster than the Fire Nation warships, even while still relying on sails. This one was weighed down by cargo and Thuy didn't want to risk losing her payment to the unreliable currents swirling above and below the volcanoes.

Katara integrated herself by helping as much as she could on the ship. Her experience had only been with the much smaller rafts and canoes of the South Pole, and even her familiarity of the ironclad ships wasn't going to do much. But she knew rope, knew how to sew with the heavy thread and canvas, and had plenty of helpful secrets on how to prepare congee.

Riku, completely out of her element, nonetheless assisted by presenting the cook with a small sack of lizardrats.

"To keep an accurate count of the rice." She said dryly and deposited the sack with a nauseating soft thud on the table. The cook, having been on the ship for most of his life, shrugged and took the bag easily. Fresh meat was difficult to come by on a ship.

One of the crew, a woman named Ankhnyam from the plains in the Earth Kingdom, started calling Riku "Muur" and doted on her. As Katara watched Riku bristle while Ankhnyam handed her a steaming bowl, she wondered why. After Riku stalked off, with the bowl, Katara approached her.

"Why do you call her Muur?" Katara asked.

Ankhnyam was a large woman, bigger than even the men of the Poles. Her long hair was thick and dark, heavy as cords. But she was young, only a few years older than Katara and the youthful look on her face seemed out of place.

"In my language, it means cat. And your friend is very much like the cat I had as a child." Ankhnyam answered.

"Your language?" Katara questioned. Of course there were words - the names of places or things - that she said that did not exist in the common tongue of the world. But it wasn't a language.

"Of course! The world has not always been so united. That's why we have an Avatar." Ankhnyam said.

"Well, yes, I knew that." Katara said in a rush, feeling her face flush. "But we've had an Avatar for so long, wouldn't other languages have…"

She drifted as she saw Ankhnyam's face. The woman was still smiling at her, so asking the question made it seem as if Katara was about to say something ignorantly naive.

"Have you heard of Chin the Conqueror?" Ankhnyam asked. Katara froze, keeping herself from answering honestly. She had held onto her alias as Mizu, and Mizu had not travelled with the Avatar nor been at his trail for Chin's murder.

"Yes. He conquered most of the Earth Kingdom right?"

"Indeed. But he wasn't the first. The Golden Horde ruled all of the Earth Kingdom before even the first emperor was born. Now we live in the plains and keep to our own."

"You've had that language for that long?"

Ankhnyam laughed at Katara's bewilderment and sat down. Pulling a talisman out of her pocket, Ankhnyam stared at it in silence before beginning again.

"We are a small people now. It's easier to keep things if it's shared among fewer hands." She said finally. Her words were optimistic but her tone was not.

"The kingdoms of my country used to fight all the time. Kingdoms would grow large enough to see their neighbors and the fighting began. Omashu was the only one to come from a unification of love, not war." Ankhnyam continued.

"After Chin died, there was a lot of war again right?" Katara asked.

"There was. Avatar Kyoshi believed in separation; each kingdom to itself. But she knew that to stay unnoticed, there were choices to be made. You keep your peace to keep your piece." Ankhnyam said.

Katara ran the phrase over in her mind and then started with a laugh.

"That's why the Earth Kingdom fell as it did to Sozin." She said. Ankhnyam sighed but nodded.

"Others wouldn't rally to other kingdoms as they concerned themselves only with their own borders." She said. "It is a very Earthbender mindset."

"Are there not very many benders in your kingdom?" Katara asked.

"We do not have a king. We have a Khal. But no, there are not many benders. Most go off to join some army of another kingdom, and the rest of us stay and raise our leopard horses."

"You didn't." Katara countered.

"No, but this is temporary. I long for the day when I return home." Ankhnyam said wistfully. "I'm getting married and I wanted to have enough money to buy a herd of rhino yaks. My bridegroom has a withered leg and cannot ride, but herders are not expected to move quickly."

They started talking of more banal things then but Katara continued to turn things over in her mind.

Most of her own travels in the Earth Kingdom had been on the western side. When she and Aang had flown to the Western Air Temple, they didn't venture too far from the coast. The interior was flat and dry, with leagues of grasslands like golden seas. The city-kingdoms there were smaller in the sense of population, and the gulfs of land between them were neutral claims mostly used for grazing. A king would often have a map showing his borders that overlapped his neighbors, but neither of them argued much about it.

That part of the world had also been removed from much of the war; the resources were almost useless to the Fire Nation.

Now that the war had ended the world was getting smaller. Where the United Republic of Nations was now, there had first been an Earth Kingdom city. One hundred years after its fall a decedent had returned to take it back. The lawsuit had gone all the way to the royal court but Kuei had been insistent on the idea of the URN and, without proper documentation, the claim was dismissed.

The claimant and his family had been furious; any paperwork had burned up with the original king when Sozin had taken the city-kingdom in the first place. Western kings grumbled as they finally scratched out the borders Kuei had acceded to the URN, and Katara and the others had never noticed. The war was over so everything would be okay.

Now, as Katara remembered the merchants seeking to exploit her people, the shops that treated her culture like trade goods, and the Earth Kingdom princess that sought to buy out the Fire Nation made her wonder about what kind of peace it would take for everyone to keep theirs.

After Ankhnyam left her to start her shift, Katara wandered around the deck. They had been at sea for five days and passed the black cliffs yesterday. She was mostly clean, having been permitted to haul up seawater to wash with when others could assist her. Riku, on their third night, had gambled with a few of the crew and won their rations for the day. Still containing Azula's shrewdness, Riku turned her win into a shared meal that won the crewmates to her side. So they ate better and were treated with less suspicion, but still slept in the cargo hold.

Captain Thuy barely spoke to them. She didn't ask about what they were running from, but that meant Katara could never explain, or even lie eloquently enough to gain some surety. It was becoming a problem as both she and Riku wanted to be on the captain's good side. Katara because she didn't like to be mistrusted, while Riku was more concerned with being sold out after they reached Republic City.

The trip was going to take two weeks. Long enough for Xianji to know they were no longer on the island and to figure out where they were likely headed. Depending on how many ships disembarked from that harbor during the festival, there might even be a guard waiting for them when they arrived. Having Thuy like them might save their lives.

So, when Katara found the captain at the wheel, she made her way up to the platform.

"Good evening." She said. Thuy glanced at her with her empty eye, making Katara wonder if she could actually see something.

"This isn't a cruise ship, I don't take complaints. If there's something wrong, I don't care." Thuy said and faced out to the ocean again.

"I wanted to know where we were." Katara asked and Thuy grunted.

"That's the island Formosa and it means we're finally getting to the tail of the island chain." Thuy said.

"Is that," Katara stopped to swallow a stone in her throat. "Is that where Kiso is?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never stopped there." Thuy said gruffly.

Katara felt her fingers chill and she looked out toward the dark shape of the island on their left. She could remember the forest there, the small village, and a locked room containing a box. It was where she began to feel the water around her, the water that existed in every living thing.

It was where Hama had made a home.

"You're lucky I don't throw you into the ocean." Thuy grumbled.

"Excuse me?" Katara snapped, turning sharply to the captain.

"Granted, your kind tend to do well in the water. But I don't like having a curse on my ship." Thuy said.

"I'm not cursed." Katara replied sharply.

"Oh? Just have a habit of painting yourself then?" Thuy asked and gestured to Katara's hands. "I know a curse when I see one."

"Then why did you let me on board?" Katara questioned.

"The pair of you are cursed, which means it's something bigger than some witch or devil. And when those curses get broken, there's usually a reward."

"You sound like a pirate." Katara muttered.

"A pirate wouldn't take bets on if your curse will even get broken in the first place." Thuy retorted.

"You think mine will?"

"You're still standing here aren't you?"

"So when people come looking for me, what will you tell them?"

Thuy looked at her with both eyes and Katara didn't shrink away. Eyes, ruined or not, were important and she had gotten over superficial aesthetics.

"Depends on who's asking. I've got a crew to protect. But I don't see much of you to know if you're a Waterbender, and your friend did say you got tricked by a pimp." Thuy stepped over to the wheel and looked down at the map next to it. "It's not like I can see very well anyway."

Knowing it was time for her to go, Katara walked over to the staircase. She paused at the first step, looking down.

"Thank you." She said.

"Just remember me and mine when you're done." Thuy replied.

Katara walked down the steps and further down the deck, trying to leave Thuy's sight before heading to the railing. She watched the island pass by in silence.

She wondered what Hama would think of her.

It was an uncomfortable thought, to be curious about the hag's opinion. But Hama was always going to be a pin in Katara's timeline, marking when she shifted in her power as a bender.

Looking up in the pre-dusk sky, Katara saw the faded face of the moon. It was always in the sky. Even during the new moon, everyone could see how the moon was a flat disc of shadow in the night sky. The moonlight rejuvenated Waterbenders, but the spirit was always there, even when she didn't shine. And Katara knew her.

Hama was the one who finally put it together, that there was water everywhere. And so her bending could work anywhere. At any time. Understanding that was one thing, as it was only logical that her bending wouldn't lessen at noon during the summer solstice. But to face the recognition that water was essential for life, therefore requiring it to be held in abundance where it could, that was something else.

She could have pulled pure water from the cactus in the desert if she had known. It would have cost the plant its life, but they would not have had to suffer so close to death themselves.

After her pursuit of Yon Rha, Katara realized that was where her morality stood. She would never use bloodbending; she would never take someone's will or life to save her own. Afterall, they had made it out of the desert just fine. She would never stoop to Hama's level just to make things easier.

But what would she think?

Katara had done nothing over the past six years since the war ended. She had studied some in the martial uses of her bending; there wasn't much she could really do when Aang was the only other Waterbender around and he never had the inclination to train with her. The healing was picked up along the way, and even that was paltry to what she had seen in the Earth Kingdom hospitals. While her vanity didn't care for it, her name didn't carry the same sort of renown anymore. She had decided to become a nobody.

Leaning against the railing, Katara watched as the island disappeared behind them.

Hama had lived quietly in her village. She had made friends and still hunted people once a month. While her name would have passed quietly into history, her actions would have created an urban legend to last generations. The world only had room for a few heroes, but plenty of dark places to hide monsters.

Looking down at her purple hands, Katara sank into the wood with the weight of her sadness. Azula had literally gone into the dark woods and been lost. Riku was clean of her past and the burden it placed on her. If Katara became Mizu in reality, would anything change?

With a grunt, Katara pushed herself away from the railing. Aang had disappeared and no one had heard from him. She knew he was alive - somehow she knew that his passing would not go unnoticed - but he was gone nonetheless. Sokka, Toph, and Zuko were ensnared and probably half the palace as well. She was being slowly poisoned and her bending was choked off.

If she chose to become Mizu, she would die a slow and cowardly death while leaving her friends to miserable fates.

There was no peace for her. But there was never going to be any peace. There would always be another crisis, something that Katara would have to deal with. There would be more monsters, more greedy merchants, more cut throat politicians, and more plots. They would follow her forever.

"What is wrong with you know?" Riku popped up next to Katara, startling her.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You look bloated." Riku replied.

"Thanks Riku." Katara said dryly. Riku moved past her, heading back toward the railing Katara had left, but paused.

The winds in this part of the ocean screamed. The gusts moved around the islands and shot up with the heat, tearing past the peaks of volcanoes. This was why Thuy made them crawl past the islands; a lax hand would have the sails fill to bursting and send a ship careening into submerged volcanic mountains.

In the broad ocean, they would undoubtedly zip through the waves as long as the weather held. But there was still constant work to be done in case the winds changed, a storm approached, or a simple accident occurred. A junk could move quickly, but not as steadily as a battleship.

As Ankhnyam said, there was an Earth Bender mindset about change. Junks worked, so why change them? Electricity and metalbending were new and useful, but required either nationalization or a massive, collective undertaking off all the kingdoms to make both stick.

People jostled for power over lost land and found markets.

Like water through rock, Katara would have to find a way to navigate it all.

Looking at Riku, Katara felt her sadness grow. She was sick to death of Riku and the pity Katara felt for the other woman. Azula could be a murderess with a tragic upbringing and Katara wouldn't feel bad at all for hating her. But Riku was something else.

Fire didn't change. The only thing that did change was the fuel.

Katara stood next to Riku and looked back out, now at empty water. The sun was setting and she could feel something icy creep into her throat.

"What are your parents like?" Katara asked. Riku looked at her, confused in a defensive sort of way.

"Why?" She asked in return.

"My father is going to remarry. My mother died when I was young, and this other woman. Well. She's not my mother." Katara said. Riku snorted and faced forward.

"Of course not. That's not how death works."

Katara closed her eyes, squeezing them slightly, as she pushed the air from her lungs as quietly as she could. As she took in a breath, she opened them.

"It just makes my father feel less like my father. He's even having another child."

"Isn't he too old for that?"

Katara chuckled. "Sort of. Men don't have as many problems. And his new wife is younger."

"Fathers tend to break their daughters' hearts." Riku stated and Katara sighed.

"But am I even his daughter anymore? I've been gone for so long." She said. After a pause, Katara winced and looked at Riku. "Sorry, I did want to talk about you."

"No, you want to talk about yourself. You just want to connect with me." Riku retorted and Katara winced again.

"Maybe."

"It's not a bad thing. But people should be more honest."

Riku walked off, moving toward one of the smaller masts. Katara followed her and they both sat against it. Riku pulled out a piece of rope and started making and undoing knots. Her fingers were clumsy and her knots were atrocious, but she showed no signs of frustration as she pulled each free to start over.

It was the same kind of patience Katara had seen from Zuko in training. But that was rare, as Sokka had told her time and again how Zuko would often get frustrated and set many things on fire.

Katara remembered seeing Azula breakdown and how the fire overtook her, making her reckless.

Riku had thrown money when failing to make change.

The patience had come from somewhere, but had not been supported, only enforced.

Katara leaned against the mast, tilting her head up to look at the sky. Dusk pulled the night sky down letting the stars slowly twinkle awake. The wind fell as the air cooled, and the sails' snapping sounded like fireworks.

Hakoda and Kya had encouraged her. The whole village did. Kana had been sad watching her and now Katara knew she had been remembering her friend. Hama had been from the South Pole and one of the last Waterbenders. She was a monster. At some point, the threshold had been crossed.

Looking at her hands, Katara wondered.

"I think parents always change." Riku started suddenly. Katara put her hands in her lap, still staring at them.

"My parents are different with Kiyi than they are with me. It's a different relationship. They don't have to take care of me anymore." She went on.

"But you're happy?" Katara asked.

"Of course not." Riku said. Katara frowned and turned to her. Riku's brow furrowed as she jerked on the rope.

"I can't remember being a child at all. I don't have those memories. At night I have terrible dreams and I wake up screaming about a woman with long hair trying to drown me. Or a horribly burned man trying to smother me. Or a phoenix trying to engulf me in flames." With every statement, Riku yanked on the rope till the knot became a tangled mess. Tears fell down Riku's face as she tossed it down between them.

"Someone out there is looking for me. Someone who truly loves me. And I'll never find them because I don't remember." She said with finality. Taking up the knot, Riku held it in her hand and sniffed.

"I wish he had burned me when he had the chance." She muttered and set the knot on fire.

"Riku…" Katara reached out but Riku dumped the ashes from her palm and stood.

"I don't need to explain myself to you." She said darkly. Katara stayed quiet and watched as Riku walked off to the door that led below deck.

It took another week of travel. Katara was stiff every morning, both from the poison in her veins and from sleeping on a bag of rice. Both she and Riku were filthy and their tunics were heavily soiled. The crew took pity on them as the got closer to Republic City and hauled buckets of seawater for them. Riku heated the water and Katara scrubbed at their clothes, then they each worked on scrubbing themselves.

The night before they reached the harbor, the crew were in high spirits and threw a small feast. They lauded Riku's skills as a lizard rat catcher and in the torchlight, Katara saw her smile.

For herself, Katara started to relax. They would be in Republic City in the morning and they would figure out what to do next. Zuko's wedding and Ozai's execution wouldn't be until the end of the summer, before the council meeting. She had almost two months and surely this wouldn't take so long.

It wasn't like she had to save the world again.


	15. For Love of You

The palace was completely different. After completing his instruction, the servant and Suki left his room. Sokka watched her go, making sure to keep his face slightly disapproving.

It was so hard to see her.

Sokka loved two women and never wavered from that fact. Other men made boasts of the loves that broke their hearts before they married, but Sokka knew that Suki was the one for him. Even as they both became adults, they changed in compatible ways. She had become the strong leader, not just of the warriors, but of Kyoshi. Her bravery and spirit was straight out of his father's stories about the wolf warriors. Suki was everything he wanted to become, so he followed her.

Suki, being more compassionate than that, pulled him up to her side.

The day she told him she was pregnant, Sokka felt like the universe had finally rewarded him. After losing so much, he was going to have a spirit return to him. It also didn't hurt to think that he might be the one to return his mother to the mortal realm.

When the baby flowed from her, they cradled each other. In her pain, he feared. As he tried to hold onto her, she was pushing away. But she always understood, and forgave him.

He left her to trail after his sister at both Poles, when ultimately he would have done better being here.

Amaqjuaq had considered Katara to be the moon, but Sokka knew better. The moon was a non-Bender and did not require such active worship. His sister was mortal, in love with his best friend, and probably the one who caused most of this mess.

Taking in a deep breath, Sokka held it in his stomach. The breath came out slowly, clearing his lungs.

Katara was a disaster, but he loved her anyway.

Suki was out of commission, but would love him anyway.

So Sokka had to focus on getting Suki back so when his disaster sister returned, they could all save Zuko and maybe he would actually get to live a normal life.

For now, he had to adjust. The less important people living in the palace all met in a small room for breakfast. Suki attended the princess herself, but this gave Sokka his first opportunity to meet with Rin. She didn't look very different, except for clothing.

Different came in the size and shape of Toph Bei Fong.

"Sokka." Toph greeted, walking into the room on the arm of a servant. Her dress was richly embroidered with the flying boar. The gold threads shimmered on her deep sleeves as she moved, looking young and maidenly. Sokka repressed a shudder as he held out a hand to her.

"Good morning Toph." He said as he helped her to her cushion. She was helpless, casting her blind eyes around the room as she tried to find her boundaries.

It was the first time Sokka ever thought of Toph as small. Her thin hands swam in the deep cut of her sleeves, her small feet were jammed into stiffly embroidered shoes, and her hair was waxed and coiled, pinned with long jade needles. All together on another woman it would be beautiful. But this was Toph. This is not where her beauty came from.

"I trust you slept well." Sokka said and knelt at the table, glancing up to look at Rin. She leaned casually, masculinely with her sleeves rolled up, against the table reading a newspaper.

"Of course. The princess's tea helps." Toph replied.

"The princess is kind." Sokka intoned and Rin nodded, still not looking at either of them.

The sound of bells clattered in Sokka's ears and he flinched instinctively. Luckily, Toph was blind and Rin still didn't care to see him.

The door slid open again, allowing a stream of servants in. Plates, tea cups, and platters circled their table as food and tea were doled out. Chuluuny had reported that only certain tea services would be tainted, but it would be hard to know which ones. As far as she could tell, it would be best to avoid drinking tea alone or to give a reason for tea to be poured outside of normal times.

"Has there been any news of my sister?" Sokka asked aloud. The servants were different people, of course, but moved in a hive mind. Similar to Joo Dee Prime and Joo Dee the Second just without the supplanting of personalities.

"Not yet." One man answered as he scooped rice into a bowl.

"But the guard will find her soon." Another woman continued before sliding a napkin next to his hand.

Their bells jingled incessantly in his head.

When they left, Rin finally put down her paper and glanced between the two of them. Sokka would never have thought it possible that the woman could look anymore dour than she usually did.

"The Fire Lord has requested your presence." She said.

"Yes, during the festival." Sokka said.

"I'm so excited for the festival. I hope the air smells like blossoms." Toph interjected. Her tone repulsed Sokka and he focused on Rin.

"Before that." Rin said. "After you've finished eating."

Sokka's throat dried and he seriously wondered how he would eat at all.

"Of course. I am at the Fire Lord's service." He replied before picking up his chopsticks. Picking up the smallest clump of white rice, he held his hand steady for a moment.

He wondered if this might be the event that actually killed him.

Unable to shake off the dread, Sokka started to eat. The rice stuck to his tongue and he had to drink the tea, sending a prayer to Yue in case she was still looking out for him. With nothing else to do, Sokka ate and, when Rin returned her focus to her paper, talked softly with Toph. It was odd to see what instructions she had been given, to replace whatever thing the servants found repellent about her.

Toph only spoke about pleasant things, but wouldn't mention the badgermoles or the bending matches. Her parents also couldn't be mentioned, as they had never made her happy. Instead, there were stories about the garden.

On a whim, one he judged safe, Sokka made a small attempt.

"I know there is a cottage on the grounds, covered in vines. They have the most stunning violet trumpet blossoms." He said while eying Rin. She didn't seem to notice he had been speaking.

"I would love to fill a garden with the most fragrant blossoms in the world." Toph said, continuing on.

Looking at his half-eaten bowl of rice, Sokka at least knew that this tea hadn't been poisoned. It still took him awhile to choke everything down. As soon as he was finished, Rin simultaneously folded up her paper, laying it on the table.

"Shall we?" She asked as she stood.

"I wouldn't think of leaving Toph on her own." Sokka said. Rin looked annoyed.

"Of course." She went and knocked on the door, which promptly slid open. Another jangling servant tottered in, kneeling next to Toph. Rin looked at Sokka.

"Let's go." She said.

Sokka stood and followed her out into the hall, wincing at the small, frightened whimper Toph left out before the servant hushed her.

Toph was truly blind now, lost in a darkness she had fought so hard to escape. And she was alone in it.

Feeling his resentment rise, it was easier for Sokka to look impassive and stern. By the time Rin opened the door to Zuko's study, he felt sure that he would be able to handle whatever saccharine sentiment Zuko was going to throw at him.

He felt less sure as he saw Xianji standing behind Zuko's chair. His anger dissipated as Rin pushed him to a chair opposite while Xianji laid a pale hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"Good morning Sokka." Xianji said.

"Good morning princess." Sokka replied evenly. He then turned his gaze to Zuko. "Good morning Fire Lord."

Zuko only dipped his head in greeting while Xianji smiled down at him. The glass beads of her hair pins clinked together, sounding more melodious than the bells everyone wore.

"Sokka, as a dear friend of the Fire Lord, I am asking you for a favor." Xianji said.

"Of course princess." Sokka said.

"My bridegroom suffers from nightmares and he calls out all sorts of things in his delirium." Xianji started.

Zuko frowned and looked up at her, placing his hand on hers. Xianji softened her smile and Zuko relaxed, returning to his neutral position.

"How can I help princess?" Sokka asked.

"What can you tell me about your sister, and why it is that my bridegroom seeks her out?" Xianji questioned.

Katara didn't need to be the moon in his sky for him to love her, to protect her. It never made sense to him that Tui and La were romantic, and having Yue become the moon spirit reinforced that. La didn't mind that the other had been replaced, only that Tui was there.

They swam in the same pond, just as Sokka and Katara had swam in the same womb. Male and female, light and dark, non-Bender and Bender. Sokka pulled while Katara pushed and they were already the perfect pair; before Aang, before the end of the world, and certainly before this mess.

Katara was a disaster, but she was his disaster. He loved two women after all, and Yue was a moon spirit.

"My sister," Sokka began and stared directly at Xianji. "Is a healer and engaged to Prince Amaqjuaq."

"Then why does the Fire Lord call for her?"

"Does he need a healer?"

Xianji blinked, but gave no sign of frustration. Sokka kept his face still. Zuko often accused him of speaking thoughtlessly, but Sokka at least stood by everything he said. Any nervousness or regret would give the idea that the question was anything but innocent.

It was a legitimate question.

"My mother has a tea for nightmares." Xianji murmured. Sokka made no reply and waited till she focused back on the present. He didn't care for the way her eyes went soft.

Like she wasn't even here.


	16. Everything Stays

A/N This is the former chapter 14! A new one was inserted on 12/25/19 to deal with a plot hole so please check it out before continuing!

When the ship docked in Republic City, Katara was awakened urgently. Her body was stiff from sleeping on a sack of rice, but the sailors jostled her upright. They were not unkind, but there was a tense uncertainty among them. The cargo was due to be unloaded and the buyer was already at the docks. It was early yet, and the buyer was well-known to Captain Thuy, so there was no sign of a guard. Yet time was never assured so they pushed both women up the ladder to the deck.

Katara's fingers could barely bend around the rungs and the muscles in her shoulders were tight. Once on deck, and blinded by the morning light, she stood on the deck shifting uneasily. The stench of harbor salt water made her head swim and the choppy waves in the port threatened to topple her. It wasn't until Riku sighed with frustration and grabbed her that they made their way to the ramp.

"We have to get out of here." Riku said impatiently. Rubbing the sun tears out of her eyes, Katara looked out at the buildings along the deck.

"I know where we can go. My friend has a metalbending school in the city." Katara said.

"Are you an idiot? The palace is going to be looking for you in places like that." Riku retorted.

"No, we have to get out of the city." She went on.

Katara yanked her arm back, making Riku stop.

"You said we had to get here." Katara stated. Riku made a noise in her throat and rolled her eyes.

"Republic City is a massive hub. There are ships, trains, and airships pouring in and out of here every day." Riku said. Still, she took a moment to look around. "We need to get to a safe place and plan our next step."

"Or to formulate a plan at all." Katara retorted.

Riku whirled back to her, her amber eyes blazing.

"My side of the bargain was to get you out of the imperial city. I did that. Anything else you need help with, you're going to have to figure out." Riku shot back.

Katara bit back her retort. Azula had been a master strategist. Both her and Zuko actually. They had been raised with war, on how to conquer an entire world. While Katara had been dealing with her trauma, Riku had created no less than three plans to get them to this point.

Whether or not Katara liked her, she was at least going to have to trust Riku.

"We're too close to Avatar Island here, though I'm desperate to know if Aang has been around." Katara said and turned, looking for the bay.

"I assume they're familiar with you on that island." Riku said, her voice flat. Katara nodded.

"I need to think. I was here almost three seasons ago; I don't know if people will remember me." She said.

"They might remember Katara, but not some dirty colonial bastard." Riku said.

"You really have to stop calling me that." Katara remarked dryly, facing Riku again. The other woman shrugged.

"I will when it stops being useful." She said.

Katara's stomach grumbled and she placed a hand over it. Riku's shoulders sank and she looked around.

"Okay, food first." She said.

Katara took the lead this time, making sure they stayed away from the streets that went to the boarding house. She hadn't been back to this part of the city since leaving to see Zuko and was shocked to see how much had changed. Where that had once been rows of scaffold covered buildings were now just buildings. The main road had been paved with mismatched flat stones; still temporary but it lessened the amount of muck in the area. People ran stores that sold more than just daily necessities or rough clothing. There were more people in general.

Sign posts stood at every intersection, keeping Katara from getting lost in the confusion. She heading toward a construction site, knowing that any food stalls would be too used to constant churning to notice the pair of them. Especially since they both looked like filthy urchins.

Katara pointed out a small teahouse and they walked toward it. It was a permanent building and seemed to be original to the city itself. The sign about the door had been stripped away and a board nailed overtop. "Teahouse" was painted neatly across it, with no other attempt at a business name.

Inside, Katara took in a sharp breath. The decor was Water Tribe.

Furs hung on the wall and the mantle of the fireplace had carved images of sea animals. Cooking somewhere in the back was a pot of seaprune stew; the sharp scent of the prunes was the first thing she noticed.

At the tables were construction workers from both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom - with a few colonials interspersed - but in the back corner was a large group of Water Tribals. Comparatively, it was easy to see the difference between the darker Earth Kingdom people and the Water Tribals. Only the people from the steppes matched their features, but their complexion was fairer. Similar, but not quite.

Among her people, it would be difficult to pretend to be anything else. The thought made her heart ache.

After the war, when the men returned and villages disappeared, a lot of families were out of work. Coming from an area where they had to contend with large beasts, hauling fishing nets, and plowing through deep snow, many of the Water Tribe men were large compared to their non-Bender counterparts in other countries. It made them favorable among hard labor companies and so Katara wasn't surprised to see them employed in construction. She was just surprised to see them here, and now.

"It's like you people have a homing beacon." Riku muttered.

Katara shook herself, unaware that she was growing emotional. A server had spotted them and approached, smiling.

"Would you like a table?" He asked. Katara blinked just as Riku stepped forward.

"Yes, please." She said. The server nodded and turned, so Riku leaned in to hiss at Katara.

"Get it together."

With a sniff, Katara turned her gaze from the Water Tribals and followed the server. He sat them at a small table and handed them both a menu. Riku smiled at him as he walked away before looking down at the menu in disgust.

"Is there anything other than soup here?" She asked.

"Dried meat doesn't do well outside of soup." Katara replied. "But it looks like they've got plenty of seafood."

"Out of that filthy bay I assume." Riku skimmed over the menu and set it down with a sigh.

"I think we need to go to Ba Sing Se." Katara said. Riku raised an eyebrow and laced her fingers together.

"Go on." She said, leaning forward.

"I need to understand why the Earth Kingdom got involved in the first place. Ba Sing Se is the best place to figure that out, plus," Katara hesitated. "I know someone there."

"Someone useful I hope." Riku said and leaned back.

"The Fire Lord's uncle." Katara clarified. At the word, Riku's face changed for a moment. Blinking rapidly, Riku shoved a hand into a pocket.

"That might work." She muttered. Pulling her hand out, Katara saw a number of capsules.

"Headache?"

"Shut up." Riku snapped and looked around. "Where is the server?"

Katara waved the man over and ordered for them as Riku slouched in her seat. The man nodded and stepped away for a second before returning with a tray. Setting down two cups, Katara thanked him and stared at her own when he left.

She really didn't like being handed beverages anymore.

Riku ignored her, tossing three capsules in her mouth and drinking deep from her cup. Nervous, Katara picked up her cup. The water smelled clean, but that didn't really mean anything. She drank and hoped for the best.

Over their breakfast of soup, Katara and Riku created the best plan they had available. They needed better clothes and Katara needed a haircut. Then they needed to book passage to Ba Sing Se, which they may or may not be able to afford. Riku was the one to bring up the spread of the purple in Katara's body, but there wasn't much she could do about that.

Inwardly, Katara cursed herself. By sulking for so long, she had missed out on numerous opportunities to work on what was happening to her. Amaq had written about his time spent at the Oasis, but she had never engaged in the conversation. Aang had offered to take her to various places in hopes of finding a cure, but Katara had only wanted to stay in her bed.

Back then, it hadn't been killing her.

On the recommendation of the server, Katara got the name of a barber that had daughters. While Katara, still known as Mizu, sat under the barber's ministrations, Riku spoke with his wife about buying old clothes. They were Earth Kingdom citizens and built more inline with Katara's own body shape, so there wasn't much they needed in alterations.

Now washed and changed, Riku shook out the last of their stolen money.

"I had a thought." Riku said, still looking at the heavy coins.

"What's that?" Katara asked.

"Is it more noticeable if you wore a necklace or just kept walking around with that ugly scar on your neck?" Riku questioned. Katara put a hand to her throat and frowned.

She couldn't even remember when she had last worn a necklace. Her mother's had been packed away what seemed like ages ago. All this time it had just been her scar.

"I don't think the princess noticed that I ever wore a necklace." Katara said. "I might need to cover the scar."

"That's what I thought." Riku put the coins back into the purse before shoving that into her pocket. When she removed her hand, Katara could see something red.

"Here." Riku handed over a strip of fabric and Katara took it.

"When did you get this?" She asked. The collar was a nice one, but clearly worn.

"You would be better off not asking so many questions." Riku replied.

"I'm just wondering if you stole it from the barber's wife or back in the Fire Nation." Katara said blithely. Riku huffed a laugh as Katara tied on the necklace. The cloth rubbed over her scar and she tried to stretch her neck enough to move it.

"Keep wondering." Riku said but smiled pleasantly.

"I think we should head to Avatar Island." Katara said. Riku's smile disappeared.

"I told you, the princess is going to look first at the places that you're familiar with." She said.

"I know, I know. But look, we don't have enough money to get to Ba Sing Se and the acolytes will help me." Katara said. As if she could feel the gaze of the acolytes coming from the island, Katara set her shoulders. "They won't betray us."

"Why's that?" Riku asked.

"Because the Avatar loves me." Katara admitted. Riku sputtered and Katara felt her face flush.

"Well, aren't you the most special thing in the world? Beloved of the Avatar, friends with the Fire Lord, what next? Are you a conduit of the spirits?" Riku asked.

Thinking of Aivilayoq, Katara scuffed a foot along the dirt, making Riku groan.

"Blazes, that was supposed to be a joke." She muttered.

It was difficult for Katara not to point out Riku's own ridiculous history. How this woman had sat on the Earth Kingdom throne and shot down the Avatar with lightning. How she had ended up with a new face and no memories in order to have a chance at peace yet still stood in a foreign country with her sworn enemy.

"Fine, we'll go to the island." Riku paused and looked askance, suddenly shy. "Do you think they'd send a letter?"

"I don't see why not." Katara replied softly. "Your father will be worried."

Riku nodded and then sniffed. "Let's go."

Winding through the lower part of the city, Katara once again went to the ferry docks. The statues Toph had erected were long gone, washed away naturally or through the Avatar's intervention. His statue was still in waiting; Sokka had explained to her that Aang was waiting to look more distinguished before committing his image to stone.

Katara's original ferryman wasn't immediately visible but she still sent Riku down to hire a boat. An older woman was ready to go and Riku called her down, explaining to the woman that they were going to become acolytes.

When the woman launched them away from the small dock, everything inside Katara lurched. The brackish water smelled like rotting vegetation and silt, but there was still water. Her throat dried as she tried yet again to reach out and the water didn't respond. They only moved as the woman rowed smoothly through the dark water. Ahead was the island that Katara detested so much.

Toph and Aang had built it in just a few days after Sokka had finalized the blueprints. The spire and connected towers resembled the Air Temples, while the green hills were small emerald pools around the sandstone. The new Air Bison moved lazily both on land and in the air, and Katara could see the large bodies moving around the towers. The acolytes managed everything about the place from landscaping to maintenance.

Everything had to be kept ready in case the Avatar returned.

When she was there, Katara was treated like another holy relic or empty room to be kept ready. Ready to be filled with the Avatar and serve a purpose.

It took her longer than she cared to admit to notice. While most of the meals were strictly vegetarian - despite the fact that not all Air Nomads had been vegetarian themselves - occasionally Katara would get something with meat. At first she assumed it was out of respect that she ate meat, but then she noted how these meals were served with joy. The joy would continue to build until Katara had her monthly bleed. Then the acolytes shrank away from her.

As the got closer, Katara regretted her choice more and more.

There were acolytes at the dock when they arrived and Katara thanked the spirits that none were ones she knew. They all had their heads shaved and wore long robes of the ancient monks. When they saw Katara, they got excited.

"Mistress!" One exclaimed but Katara glared at her.

"Yes, I've returned with another potential acolyte." Riku said as she stepped out of the ferry and onto the dock. The acolytes helped her up and then reached out for Katara, taking her gently.

"Thank you for your services." Riku said to the ferrywoman, who grunted and pushed back from the dock. Not waiting for her to get very far, Katara marched down the dock.

"Is everything okay Master Katara?" An older acolyte questioned softly.

"I need some assistance." Katara said. "The Avatar has sent for me."

The manic energy rippled through the small group and Katara pushed down her disgust.

"We haven't heard from the Avatar in a few weeks. Is he well?" The older acolyte asked.

So Emry hasn't heard anything either. Katara smirked but didn't say anything about it.

"He is, but I'm not." She said and stopped, turning dramatically to the group. "You must swear that you will not forsake me."

"Never!" The acolytes said in unison.

"There is a plot in the palace that has put me in great danger. I have much to do but first I must answer the call of my," Katara nearly choked on her borrowed words. "Beloved."

The joy that erupted on the acolytes's faces was terrifying and she stiffened.

"What can we do?" The woman who had called out to her asked softly.

"I need to book passage to Ba Sing Se for myself and my friend, but we don't have any money. I fled from the city as quickly as I could, rushing to be with Aang." Katara paused for effect, pulling her hands to her breast. "And with villains after me, I came to the only place I knew we could be safe."

By the freezing depths, the young woman was dabbing tears from her eyes.

"We will gladly help you Master Katara." Another acolyte said.

"We can get you onto an airship."

"We'll fly you back at night so you won't be spotted."

"We'll keep you safe."

The acolytes spoke over each other and Katara motioned with her hands to quiet them.

"Please, we must hurry inside. No one must know I'm here." She said. With a clamor, the acolytes moved, carrying both Katara and Riku inside the temple. Now there was a flurry of activity and Riku looked alarmed.

"Are they always like this?" She asked.

"It's one of the reasons why I don't like coming here." Katara answered.

"What else could there be?" Riku retorted.

"Katara?"

Katara felt bile shoot up her throat and she had to swallow it back. Turning, she looked at the small woman who approached them.

"Hello Emry." She said coldly. A string of emotions flew over Emry's face and Katara almost felt an ounce of pity.

"Did Aang really send for you?" Emry asked.

"Of course. He is doing something I asked of him after all." Katara said. Emry flinched but looked angry.

"He hasn't written to me." She stated.

"Did he tell you he was going to the North Pole?" Katara questioned. Emry flinched again.

"Is there anything I can do to help you, Master Katara?" She asked.

"Sure. Stay out of my way." Katara said and walked past Emry.

"That was delightful." Riku remarked as she caught up with Katara. Furious, Katara strode with purpose deeper into the temple.

Emry was from the eastern part of the Earth Kingdom and had been raised on stories of the Air Nomads. When Aang and Katara had made a trip to the Eastern Air Temple, they had stopped in the Earth Kingdom on a whim. At random, they had picked Emry's village, having heard that it boasted a volcanic spring that had healing properties. It was a sham of course, but a harmless one. The minerals in the water were good for the skin and Katara enjoyed bathing there. As it was a tourist spot, Aang enjoyed showing off.

During one afternoon, Katara had watched as Aang pulled some maneuver with his bending, using both water and air. As always, the crowd was in awe, and even Katara had felt her heart swell with love. For all of Sokka's awful puns, it was true that adoration was Aang's element and he was always at his best in a crowd.

Emry had been there, watching with the same swell it seemed.

As Aang and Katara flew on to the Eastern Air Temple, Emry had headed west to be one of the first acolytes in Republic City. She was waiting for them when they returned. And remained a pain in Katara's side ever since.

"Don't feel too sorry for her. She'll be the Avatar's wife someday." Katara said darkly.

"I'm not interested in romance but I'll admit to some curiosity about all of this." Riku said.

"All you need to know for right now is that I'm manipulating my ex's fanatical followers into helping me while lying straight to their faces." Katara said.

"Sounds fun." Riku said.

It definitely was something more in Azula's wheelhouse than her own. Katara shook her head to clear out the thought and kept moving. She led Riku to Aang's private study.

Another memory hit her.

It wasn't fair that she was constantly weighed down by all of these memories. It was as if life had tied them up in chains before dumping them into the depths of her mind. They sank, only to emerge when Katara made the mistake of disturbing their resting places.

Katara could almost see Aang whirl her around the room. It was right after the temple had been completed and Aang spoke about what was next for them. Marriage, if she wanted it, and a life of adventure and learning. Katara could become the greatest Waterbender in history while Aang could work on visiting every village in the world. They were together, the world was safe, and everything seemed bright.

Aang lowered her, kissing her as the sun poured in through the window.

"If you write a letter, I can have an acolyte send it out." Katara said, gesturing to Aang's desk. Riku sat at it, pulling out random drawers.

"It's a mess in here." She stated and pulled out random scraps of paper.

"Aang wasn't the neatest." Katara agreed.

"And he sucks at drawing." Riku said causing Katara to turn. Riku tossed a paper onto the desk, continuing to look for a blank sheet. Katara took the paper and smoothed it out.

He had been sketching medallions for a betrothal necklace.

This was too much and the pain seeped from her, leaving her heavy. They had loved each other and Katara had to accept that. Things may have changed, but it didn't negate the fact that for everything they understood about each other, there had been love.

Katara looked up as Riku set out a sheet of paper and an ink set. Azula was gone and Riku was not only here, but was helping her. She could be both and yet something else as things changed. Katara would have to accept that.

"Is your mother happy?" Katara asked.

"That's a weird question to ask." Riku fired back, focusing on making ink.

"I'm just curious."

"The same way the Fire Lord is just curious?" Riku glanced up for only a moment before returning to the inkstone. "Don't think that just because I'm insane that I'm also dumb."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked.

"I mean that while I know my parents are my parents, the villagers talk about how I came out of the woods. And everyone in Hira'a knows what it means when someone comes out of the woods." Riku explained. Katara shivered, taking a step back from the desk.

"The previous Fire Lord did something horrible, to me. And now the new Fire Lord and all of his fancy friends are worried about me." Riku said. She took up a brush and dipped it into the ink.

"Did we use to be friends Katara?" Riku asked, hesitating before picking up the brush from the stone.

"No." Katara answered. Riku nodded and began writing.

"I think I've always been unpleasant." She said. She did not sound regretful.

"But you are loved." Katara said.

"That doesn't always mean much sometimes, does it?" Riku, not expecting an answer, kept writing. Katara, not required to answer, walked out of the room.

She did not keep a study here. That might have been a sign, had she been paying attention. Every time Aang had pressed her to create a space for herself, Katara had brushed it off. The Air Nomads travelled so much, there wasn't a point in personalizing something she might not see for months at a time. The truth was that she never felt comfortable in the temple. It might have been different if the halls were filled with actual Airbenders and monks, but these people were playacting.

Katara headed back out, moving toward the Air Bison pen. Just as she breached a small hill and the pen came into view, she stopped. Seeing Dawa would be nice, but it felt trite. There were other ways for her to get around, and bonding with Dawa felt more like playacting as well. Turning away, Katara walked to the zen garden.

Aang had commissioned more statues, giving some of the Earthbenders a chance to be artistic while spending most of their time at construction sites. These statues were of Aang's family, with Gyatsu sitting just a bit higher than the other council monks. Behind them was a paved labyrinth; a meditative path that spiralled inward and outward. At the center was another statue, this one of Avatar Yangchen, looking serene.

Someone sat at her feet meditating.

Not wanting to disturb her, Katara moved quietly along the mosaic styled path. Orange stones swirled in, and Katara focused on the oddly shaped rocks that still fit the shape. The labyrinth circled the statue and Katara tried not to look up every time she rounded it to see the woman sitting there.

She was an odd one and Katara doubted she was an acolyte. Her skin was as dark as Katara's and her hair was matted into thick locks. Her mind wandering, Katara tried to figure out where she possibly could have come from.

In the south-eastern part of the Earth Kingdom, there was the city of Bahrat. It was where Guru Pathik had been born and Aang had been curious to see it. Some of the people there, monks of a sort, neglected their hair to show a disregard for the mundane world and it resulted in mats. It was a mark of divine acceptance and the people were regarded as gurus or sages.

This woman was probably one of those sages, come to meet the Avatar but having to settle for a statue of a previous one.

"I don't think your walk is working." The woman said as Katara came around the statue again. She paused and, feeling silly, walked across the stones toward the woman.

"Hi, I'm Katara." She said as the woman stood. The woman's sarong was loose and faded, but she didn't seem to mind the chill for all the skin that was exposed.

"And I am Rani. I am glad to meet you." She replied.

"I apologize for interrupting you." Katara said awkwardly. Rani smiled, but in a way that felt like Katara wasn't there. It was an absentminded smile.

"I was waiting for you."

"For me?"

"Well, for whatever knotted energy has been coming this way." Rani clarified and Katara instinctively glanced at the woman's hair.

"I would be the expert at knots." Rani added and Katara gave a half-hearted laugh.

"I don't know about knots, but I seem to be a bit stained." She replied and held out her hands. Rani took them, turning them over to look at the palms.

"Veins move in lines and energy flows best where runs have been established. Now there is a block, and everything has become a mess." Rani said and let go of Katara's hands. "You cannot bend, correct?"

The sharpness of the question pierced her and Katara wavered on her feet.

"No." She admitted and Rani nodded.

"You must find the source of the block and clear it."

"Can you, help me?"

"Of course. But now is not the correct time. You are too angry." Rani started to walk away and Katara sputtered.

"Wait, what do you mean? When will you help me?" She questioned, jogging over to Rani's side.

"When you are ready." Rani smiled the same faroff smile. "Don't worry, I will be here."

Katara stopped walking then and watched Rani head to the temple.

Maybe Riku was right. Her life was pretty damned weird, all things considered.

Having nothing better to do, Katara returned to the study and found Riku rifling through Aang's bookcase. Her letter was folded neatly next to the cleaned inkstone and brush.

"What are you looking for?" Katara asked.

"Anything. You never know when some random piece of knowledge will be useful." Riku said as she flipped through a book. "For instance, did you know that the acolytes believe Aang has asked for you because you're pregnant and he wants the next Airbender to be born in the Eastern Air Temple?"

"Why not the Southern Air Temple? That's where Aang is from." Katara said. Riku scoffed and shoved the book back into place on the bookcase.

"They're idiots. They want theatrics and so they created a story in their minds."

"For the daughter of actors, you seem to be very disapproving."

Riku leveled an incredulous look at her.

"When you go see a show, you know what you're getting into. When you live your life that way, it's something else entirely." She replied.

Katara handed off Riku's letter to an acolyte before requesting two beds be made for them. Still exhausted from the trip and sore besides, she just wanted to rest. The acolytes moved with alacrity and Riku was swept away into a random room.

Katara was shown back to Aang's bedroom.

The door was shut firmly behind her, and the world was cut off from her. The noise of the temple was gone. Katara moved across the wood floor, moving her feet to avoid the plank that groaned. At the bedside table closest to the door was a box. Her purple hands shook as she opened it, feeling the tears start.

She had always wondered if Aang had taken Emry into their bed. But deep down, she knew that he wouldn't. Katara's things were still here, still marking this place as her own. This was not a place he would violate.

Inside the box were odd trinkets. Aang called it her harmony box. A shard of obsidian from a Fire Nation volcano was wrapped in a ribbon she had gotten at a festival in a small Earth Kingdom village. Shells from beaches all over, as shorelines were not unique to one nation. There was a metal figurine Toph had made years ago. A carved bone figure from Sokka. A whittled piece of wood from Suki. A glass vial containing a tiny red blossom from Zuko.

Taking up the vial, Katara held it gently in her hands as she sat on the bed. This had been a birthday present, if she remembered correctly. It was after Zuko had found out about the things their friends had made. Put off by it, Zuko had taken sand from Ember Island and used his bending to heat it. Katara squeezed it in her hand, hoping to feel some of the warmth from the hands of its creator. There was only glass.


	17. Sokka Makes Friends

Three weeks of being in and out of reality. There would be times that he would slip, and Sokka would be drugged almost immediately. It was never for anything too suspicious; he was weak around Suki and the servants whispered that it was his love for her that kept undoing the effects of the tea. But that meant the princess watched them more, and wondered about the wisdom of keeping the Fire Lord's friends so close.

Everything changed when the ministers attacked.

"Get this out of my face." Mai slapped the cup out of the servant's hands and Sokka almost started to laugh. He clenched his jaw instead, putting on Pakku's intense glower to mask the tears forming in his eyes.

"This is disgraceful. Where is the tall dirt woman? She at least understands the rules around here." Mai stood, herself towering over the servant. "And why do I keep staring at so many Earth Kingdom faces anyway? Last I checked this is the Fire Lord's palace."

The servant dashed away without a word and Mai turned to face Sokka. When Mai arrived the servants escorted her into the same longue Sokka hid in. Now they were alone and Mai scoffed in disgust.

"Ty Lee sent me." She said and turned her face away.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see you. Ever." Sokka replied and stood.

Still turned away from him, Mai crossed her arms over her chest and sat back down in her chair with a huff.

"The feeling's mutual." She hesitated and finally faced him. "Why is everyone acting so weird?"

"It's the tea." Sokka answered, gesturing in the direction of her dashed teacup as he walked to the chair next to hers.

"So do any of you have a plan?" Mai questioned.

"Sort of." Sokka said and Mai sighed loudly, rolling her eyes. "We're trying to get Suki out of the daze."

"Ugggggh." Mai rubbed her face with a hand, making Sokka smirk. "I hate it when she's right."

Sokka tilted his head, trying to make out the mumbling and jerked back when Mai abruptly stood.

"I'm about to call down unholy fire on this palace. It should give you enough of a distraction to do whatever it is you need to do." Mai said. Confused, Sokka started to rise but was pushed back as Mai shoved something at him. He held out his hands like a bowl and Mai dropped something weighty.

"A gift from my bitchy ex to help my idiot ex." Mai said

Now gaping like an air drowned fish, Sokka watched her yank open the door, starting to shout before slamming it behind her. As things rattled off shelves, he looked at what she gave him. A small vial of pink liquid.

"Huh." He said.

As more yelling erupted in the hall - now with the booming bass of male voices - Sokka scrambled upright. Opening the door slowly, he jumped back as two jingling servants went running down the hallway. When they disappeared around the corner, Sokka slipped out into the hall and ran the other way.

Of course, he had no idea what to do. Suki could be anywhere in the palace and he didn't have a plan on how to get her to drink the thing he assumed was an antidote. Still, with his heart hammering in his chest, Sokka moved as quickly and as quietly as he could.

Hearing more bells coming toward him, Sokka dipped into a room and left the door open a crack.

"Three weeks! Almost a month and we have no idea where Katara is and the Hirasawas have somehow escaped." Sokka recognized Xianji's voice and pressed himself against the wall next to the door, holding his breath.

"We think we may know where they have gone." The head servant, NAME, said apologetically.

"Think? Like you thought you knew which ship Katara and her little conspirator got on? Like how you thought it was wise to search the islands instead of going directly to Republic City?" Xianji hissed, her voice twisting into something malevolent. When NAME didn't respond, she sighed deeply.

"Who is this person?" She questioned.

"Her name is Mai and her father was the governor in Omashu when it was New Ozai." NAME answered.

"And what does she want?"

"A meeting with the Fire Lord. Her father is the Minister of Foriegn Affairs but she sits for him as his heir. The Fire Lord hasn't met with the cabinet in months."

"I know that." Xianji snapped. "Let's deal with this then."

They passed and Sokka darted out again. From what little information their ragtag group of rebels could get, the ministers were furious. Two factions had sprouted: one called the Fire Purists who wanted to return to the former glory of the Fire Nation, and the Constitutionalists who had been working with Zuko on creating a different form of government. Mai's father was the head of the Purists, while the Constitutionalists were popular with the younger citizens.

There were a lot more Purists in the Cabinet.

Meetings with the ministers were always contentious and stalled frequently. Since the arrival of Xianji, however, they were more unified. The course of action was the only point of concern now.

Sokka wondered who might have stormed the palace, but shook himself to focus.

"Suki. Have to find Suki." He whispered to himself.

He turned into a corner and slammed into someone, sending them both sprawling backward.

"SUKI!" Sokka exclaimed as he watched two other warriors help her up.

"What?" She asked as Sokka jumped to his feet.

"Drink this." He said, holding out the vial.

"Wha-" Suki frowned, then her mouth went wide as one warrior spun behind her, pinning her arm behind her back. The other took the vial, uncorked it, and wrenched Suki's jaw open. The dance continued as the woman with the vial poured, spun to restrain Suki, and the woman behind her moved forward to pinch Suki's nose shut.

Sputtering, Suki choked but ultimately swallowed the vial's contents. Both women then lept back, one standing next to Sokka and the other further behind Suki. Both of them with their fans extended.

"What?" Sokka exclaimed. Still coughing, Suki fell to her knees and Sokka rushed to her.

"Get her some water!" He yelled. The Kyoshi Warriors looked at each other and flicked their fans shut with a firm CLACK. The one that had been standing with Sokka moved slower now, gently taking out a small waterskin from a hidden pocket.

They hadn't been taking any chances with their beverages it seemed.

She handed Suki the waterskin, which she took greedily. Taking in a mouthful of water, Suki swallowed and let out a shaky breath.

"Did it work?" The other warrior asked as she walked over.

"I-" Suki held up her finger and then leaned forward, vomiting in Sokka's lap.

"I'm going to take that as a maybe." He said, just as Suki rocked backward and fell unconscious into the warrior's arms.

"What is going on?" The other warrior asked, bewildered.

"The catalyst." Sokka stood gingerly, not looking down. "We need to get moving."

"Feel like putting the robes on again?" The warrior holding Suki asked. She stood, carrying Suki in her arms.

"Always. But especially now. Like right now." Sokka said. The two warriors smiled and they turned back the way they had come.

Waddling to keep the heavy coolness on his shirt away from his skin, Sokka blanched as he followed the pair. He could see Suki's head bounce a little with every step and he tensed.

He wouldn't always be able to protect her, but thankfully he had a lot of friends.

"What?" He asked, missing what the other two had been saying.

"It's a saying from back home. The machine of the spirits is often worked by a surprising hand." One repeated.

"It means unexpected help can come from the unlikeliest of places." The other explained.

"You don't happen to have another one of those do you?" The first inquired.

Sokka looked again at Suki's bobbing head and frowned. It had clearly not been a difficult choice. After his sister, Suki was the obvious choice to save. Zuko was his blood brother, but there were lots of people who were working to save him.

Toph had no one. And for almost a month, she had been living totally blind.

An Earthbender who could feel lies. Who could bend metal.

But he had picked the one he promised to quit being so overprotective of. The one he kept telling himself was the most pragmatic choice.

"The Fire Lord can wait." The other answered.

Everyone forgot about Toph.


	18. A Lack of Sanguine

Half awake, Katara brushed something off her face. The weight of it gave her a jolt of adrenaline and she shot up. Squeezing her throat to choke off a scream, she watched the fat, bulbous body of the net-casting mantis scurry away. Roughly the size of a man's fist, these creatures were known to hunt small birds and one another. It wasn't the type of thing Katara wanted to find on her person, or anywhere near her at all.

She missed the airship. She missed Appa. At this point, she even missed being back at the temple.

As she tried to calm down, Katara tugged again at the red bands around her wrists. Rani had gifted them to her before she and Riku left the island. They were woven in the design of the infinite knot and held a small silver medallion with a strange symbol etched on its face. Over the course of that day, nearly three days ago now, the stiffness in her body slackened. Her bending was still inaccessible, but at least now she felt comfortable in her own skin.

The trip was only supposed to last three days. The airship trip would take two, with a stop in the middle to refuel. Then, once they reached Ba Sing Se, they would camp outside of the Outer Ring to await the train that would take them into the city-kingdom.

While packing at the temple, Riku made sure to go over their camping supplies. For one night planned sleeping out, Katara teased her on it but she was insistent. In case the train was delayed, or if there was bad weather.

Now, Katara knew Riku had been planning for this from the start.

The acolytes had ferried the pair of them in the middle of the night back to the mainland. There, they were wrapped up in orange robes and shoved onto a cargo airship. Riku had prepared their story; that Katara was a patient and needed to be attended at the hospital in Ba Sing Se. It was the same ruse the acolytes had used at the chemist shop in Republic City earlier in the day to secure more of Riku's medications.

The first night was spent huddled near the front of the ship while the other crates and materials were loaded on. Katara had looked over some curiously in case she saw the rice bag from Thuy's ship that she had used as a bed. Riku must have had the same thought as she watched the crew warily.

They kept to themselves during the day, eating quietly with the crew when it was offered. Most of the trip, they were idle. There were only very small windows in the hold, but Katara pressed her face to the glass to see the world pass underneath. Like a map, Katara could overlay the living landscape with the ink drawn boundaries. Following the line of mountains and forests, she saw the stronghold where Aang had been captured while she and Sokka were ill.

Zuko had saved him, for whatever reason. Wearing the blue spirit mask from his mother's collection, he freed the Avatar from Zhao's tightening grasp. Aang was saved, and she and Sokka were healed from their fever.

In the evening, they passed over the peaks of where the herbalist had kept her home. Aang had remarked about the woman, finding her strange. She had a cat that was only a cat.

In the air, they slept on the only seats available; the crew offering it up to the ill and sacred women.

The next day, Riku was anxious. She checked and repacked their bags multiple times, muttering to herself and snapping when Katara tried to help.

When they landed, they ate dinner. Riku swallowed as much food as she could, urging Katara to do the same.

That night, while the ship was quiet and the only sounds were of people shoveling coal, Riku shook her awake.

"We have to go." She whispered sharply.

"What? What do you mean? What's happened?" Katara slurred, feeling sleep swirl around her head.

"One of the crew is a dock worker in Republic City. He saw us get off the ship. Some of the cargo is Thuy's." Riku replied, looking furtively back toward the ship.

"Are you sure? Riku, it might just be nerves." Katara said, still sitting up and stretching.

"I heard him talking to the captain. He said we weren't on Thuy's manifest and now we're not supposed to be on this one. They're getting suspicious."

"They're still our best way of getting to Ba Sing Se. We can leave once we land."

"They sent a falcon Katara."

Katara went completely still.

They left then, only taking the time to change out of the acolyte robes. Riku insisted on keeping them, since they would be useful in keeping bugs away from their skin.

A sea sat between the mountains and the arid landscape that housed the rings of Ba Sing Se. It was where the air currents swirled, leaving the north and western sides wet and muggy while the southern bowl was dry and hot.

The Great Divide was on the south-west bank. The Serpent's Pass was on the south-east.

They were in a forest on a peninsula in the north.

The airship was two days behind them now and on another peninsula. The grassland there was dense and made for very happy grazing. Vast herds moved through the area and where shipped on wide, flat shipping boats on three sides to various farms or slaughterhouses.

Riku had gotten them hired by a shepherd whose son had broken a leg in the fields. They worked hard, keeping the bovids from falling behind and shooing away the large biting insects. The thin acolyte robes tore easily and they tied the strips over the noses and mouths to keep the bugs out, as Riku had said.

Moving east, they got on the most dangerous looking raft Katara had ever seen. She wondered how it would even float with the bovids on it and was stunned by how low it bobbed in the water.

The air moved dangerously above them, but the river brought ice water down from the mountains and kept a cool head south. The animals were forced to a resting position with a canvas stretched over them- both to keep them dry and to secure them. The adults were at the sides, using long heavy poles to push against the riverbed and propel them across.

At the other bank, Katara rested and watched as other people untied the animals. Her arms and back sore, as she assumed were Riku's. Yet Riku stood haggling with the shepherd over their pay. When the transaction was completed, she walked over and gestured to Katara. Then, with their packs back on, they entered the forest.

Riku kept them moving but Katara just felt lost.

Appa had made quick work of their travels and Sokka was the hunter. Now on her own feet, and without her bending, Katara spent most of her energy simply trying not to complain. The net-throwing mantis was the last straw.

"Riku." She snapped, crawling over to Riku's sleeping bag and shoving at her shoulder.

"Wake up." Katara hissed.

Riku rolled over and opened her eyes, somehow looking fully awake.

"What." She stated. A prompt, not a question.

"There was a spider." Katara said and Riku snorted.

"Good. It probably kept the worse bugs away." She replied and sat up, pushing the sleeping bag off her body.

"When are we getting out of these woods?" Katara questioned. Riku set about remaking the fire, igniting it easily with her bending.

"Soon, with any luck. But then we have another river to cross." She said and started to dig out the last of their rations from the bottom of her pack.

There had been a time when Azula had chased them over miles in small tanks. Katara remembered the sleepless nights, their insane plan, and how Azula had split her party on lizard mounts to continue her pursuit regardless. She had looked clean, neat, and precise when they did meet.

Now, they were both, once again, filthy. In a cargo hold or among smelly animals, they were soon caked in a layer of filth. Both of them now had longer hair, their nails were torn away, and their clothes were permanently stained. Even the purple of Katara's skin was subdued under the constant reapplication of grime.

Riku did not complain. She moved them forward, taking opportunistic moments to hunt while Katara gathered the plant life and clean water she knew about. They were barely not starving but Riku seemed confident about their direction.

It had been almost three weeks since she escaped the palace. Three weeks with her brother and friends trapped in a drugged haze. It was too much to bear.

"It's going to rain." Katara said dejectedly, as she looked up to the sky. The trees were not as dense here as the more tropical parts of the world and she could still see patches. The clouds were low and heavy.

"That will set us back." Riku muttered, half to herself. She handed Katara some of the meat they had smoked yesterday and they both chewed silently. There was a rumble of thunder in the distance and Riku sighed.

"Why is it so bad if the Fire Lord marries the Earth Kingdom princess? Isn't that what everyone wants?" She asked.

The sound of thunder was closer now and a sudden breeze smelled like rain. Their fire shivered and popped.

"There's been a lot of talk. A lot of people have been looking to use marriage as a way to settle things. Mostly, the world wants there to be peace in the Fire Nation. Zuko marrying Xianji would do the opposite." Katara answered honestly.

"What husband are you running away from? The Avatar?" Riku questioned.

Katara sighed heavily and picked apart her share of meat.

"The prince in the North Pole." She answered.

Riku frowned and Katara watched her closely.

"There was a princess, I remember. Yuka or something."

"Yue."

"There was no prince."

"She." Katara paused, looking up again. The moon was up there, behind the clouds. She would be almost full again.

"The Fire Nation attacked and she died." Katara said lamely. Riku continued to frown but took another bite.

"You're from the South Pole right?" She asked. Katara nodded.

"My father is the head chief now." She replied.

"So you're a princess."

"No." Katara said quickly. "I'm not. I'm a waterbending master."

"Are you though?"

"Oh go take a dive A-" Katara stopped abruptly and Riku stared at her.

"So that's it." She stated. Katara flushed and shrank back.

"What?" She asked.

"I used to be someone else." Riku said.

Katara's throat dried and she struggled as she tried to swallow her dried breakfast.

"My parents argue from time to time, about my mother going into the forest. After all, everyone in Hira'a knows that something happens to the people who go into the forest. They don't come back, but sometimes the forest sends them someone else instead.

"My father came out of the forest after a man named Ikem went in. My mother came out of the forest randomly, but my father took her as his wife very quickly. A lost one, he said. They had been separated in the forest.

"I apparently was a lost one too. And it was after the Fire Lord came to the village and fought with some woman. Some woman who attacked my mother." Riku said.

"Riku." Katara started but had no idea what to say.

"Was I her?" Riku asked. "Was I the Fire Lord's sister?"

Katara stared back at her. She remembered the day Chang died, taking the hit meant for Noriko. It made her suddenly furious and Katara could feel her blood pounding through her body making her swell.

Ursa had been selfish. Katara struggled over the thought, especially after what Zuko had told her. To spare her son, Ursa had murdered Azulon and fled. She ran home, re-met the love of her life, and willingly went to the Mother-of-Faces to have her past removed. A face and her memories, traded to be safe and happy.

Ozai had sent a Yuan archer after her. Zuko had learned that during his many midnight visits to the prison. He once believed that his mother was murdered, buried in an unmarked grave in a foreign place.

All the while, Noriko lived happy and dumb with a new family. Noren kept the truth from her about the children she had committed high treason for; the ones she sought to protect from the ones closest to them. For the rest of his life, he may have let her live cut off from that choice.

Which made the choice meaningless, as Zuko was burned soon after and Azula was tortured. She gave up everything, lost nothing, and gained a new loving family while her last one was left in tatters without her.

How would things have changed if she had gone anywhere else? If she had done anything else?

If she had simply killed a different member of the royal family?

Now, after it was safe, Noriko was trying to get her memories back. To be a mother to her children again. Zuko had to be the one to convince her to keep her face, sparing Kiyi a trauma of her own.

Riku was offered the same, to be ignorant and happy. But she wanted the truth, knowing that something was out there for her and whether bad or good, she wanted to know.

It would destroy her.

"No." Katara said. "Azula was killed in the fight. Zuko had gone back to see his mother's village with her, trying to reconnect with her. She attacked him and he killed her."

"Then who was I?" Riku demanded, clearly not believing her.

The square had emptied when the fight entered the village. No one had seen what had happened and only knew of the outcome. A woman was dead and wrapped in a sheet. Azula had escaped them in the woods before the fight and they took her back to the lake after. No one would know which was which.

"You were her friend. One of the few actually. You worked in the palace." Katara said. "You went into the forest because of her death, and the Fire Lord feels guilty."

"So who is my mother?" Riku asked, her voice trembling. Thunder crashed overhead and Katara finally looked away.

"Noriko is your mother. She made a choice and Zuko has accepted it." She replied.

"She wanted his sister but took me instead." Riku said softly. Rain exploded from the clouds, soaking them and washing away the flames of their fire. Silently and quickly, they packed their things, moving for efficiency over speed. This was a downpour and everything would be wet in a matter of moments, packed or not.

"Is that why I hate him?" Riku asked as they started to walk.

"I don't really know." Katara answered. "But if you hate him-"

"Why am I doing this?" Riku forced a short laugh and wiped her hair from her face. "Because I want him to leave me and my family alone."

Conversation stopped as the rain tumbled through the levels on leaves above them. After speeding toward them, Katara waited to find the edge of the storm. The rain itself wasn't wholly unpleasant; the drops were heavy but warm, yet Katara was uncomfortable as her skin absorbed all the moisture. Her fingers swelled and looked identical to seaprunes. The purple helped a lot with that.

Worse, as they walked in the path the storm had already hit, the ground was a sucking mess. As Katara stopped to free her shoe from a mud hole, she was tempted to leave it. Riku warned her against it.

"You'll need to cover yourself when the rain ends." She stated.

When they did escape the clouds, Katara very quickly understood. The heat of the area created a blooming of fat flies. A cloud of birds crashed with a different thunder, but none would swoop down for a feast while the two of them were walking about. So they had to deal with the flies on their own.

The flies meant they had to tie the strips from their robes around their noses and mouths. After traveling for miles in the rain, the airy fabric was completely waterlogged. Katara felt like she was trying to breathe underwater. Which, as she remembered, was not an ideal experience.

But to even gasp above or below the wrap would immediately suck in a biting fly.

After walking for hours in the heavy humidity, half drowning and soaked to the bone, the wind shifted. The breeze was warm, but cut through so sharply that Katara shivered. Both of them quickly lowered their makeshift masks as the flies were buffeted away.

"Do you smell that?" Riku asked. It took Katara a moment, not being able to discern any scent over the fact that she was finally breathing clear air.

"Smoke." Katara announced. Her body jolted forward but she stopped herself as Riku looked forward, her eyes narrowed.

"It's probably keeping away the bugs, so I doubt they're trying to hide." She said. Katara nodded and tugged her mask down around her neck.

"Honestly, I doubt anyone is going to think of looking for us here." She replied.

"You bring an unbelievable level of statistical disruption with you." Riku countered. When she looked over, Katara only shrugged. It was about time she started to accept some things in her life if she was going to stave off insanity.

"Worst case scenario is that we stumble on the Earth Kingdom princess herself. Best case is I will have found out where the Avatar disappeared to, again." Katara added.

"We could use a fire." Riku said and they started off again.

The wind kept up as the storm left the area. It was clean till the threads of smoke tangled together. A heavy, acrid smoke, Katara figured the smell of it would keep a lot of things away. Unfortunately for whomever had drawn it, a fly-free fire was exactly what Katara wanted more than anything.

So it was very odd when the smell of smoke got stronger, but they never saw a flame.

"Why haven't we seen anything?" Katara asked.

Riku stiffened and Katara chilled with instant dread. Wordless, and without glancing at the other, they both took off in the direction of the smoke. The ground beneath them was firm, but the muck that covered her made Katara slip in her boots. Roots jostled over each other as the trees towered over everything, threatening to trip them without even knowing creatures were crawling over the earth. But Katara kept running, gulping air into her shallow, burning lungs.

The smoke got stronger.

"There." Riku pointed and they turned a bit. A clearing shimmered behind tree trunks like a mirage. Yet all at once they burst through the treeline and stopped.

A village was burning.

Barreling forward, Riku raced onward while Katara blinked at the sight. It was a small village, made up of only a few huts. A lumberyard stood off to the side, looking like an unfinished project with the completed homes scattered behind it. The fire had spread over everything.

Now Katara was running, her mind blank as she ignored the reality of the situation. Without her bending, she would be useless. But she had to move forward, she had to do something.

Riku ran straight through a wall of flame and Katara swore, diverting off to find a clear space to enter. There was no sound save for the roar of a hungry fire. Heavy beams popped and groaned, but nothing had collapsed yet.

This was new.

Perhaps the villagers had fled.

"Help!"

Katara shivered as she found a clear space between buildings. A voice, thin and grated, pierced the smoke and flame. Running to it, Katara saw the sagging roof and swore again.

"Help!" The call came again. Bracing herself, Katara ran to the door, bashing it open with her shoulder.

Three figures lay on the bare earth floor. Blood pooling from the wounds on their throats.

"Help!" The voice was further in the hut and Katara ignored the bodies. The heat was oppressive; the fire had been thrown onto the hut and the inside baked like an oven. With that and the increasing smoke, Katara struggled to breathe.

As she entered the smaller, secondary room, Katara's eyes watered from the acrid smoke. It was a bedroom, with three futons still unfolded on the floor. There was no one here.

"Help!"

Katara turned and saw the small trunk. Falling in front of it, her fingers scrambled over the thin leather straps. Ripping them open, Katara tossed back the lid and stared at the small boy.

His bright green eyes were wide and wet.

Scooping him up, Katara pushed his head into her shoulder as she ran back into the main room. The roof of the hut screamed.

The main beam hit with a sickening thud as it landed behind her while the burning thatch rained down on her back.

Making it out of the hut, Katara looked around wildly for a safe space. The huts had been erected without a design, but there was a vague suggestion of a center square. Running over, Katara stumbled and fell to her knees, nearly dropping the child in her arms.

"Riku!" Katara screamed.

There was only fire.

"RIKU!" She screamed again.

There was a blast and a hut exploded outward. A figure ran from it toward the square.

"I found a child." Katara said as Riku got closer.

"Everyone else is dead." She replied. Katara said nothing but fell onto the ground, cradling the boy as she sat awkwardly. Riku looked down at him and her nose flared.

"We need to find out what happened." She said. Turning away, Katara watched as Riku walked calmly to the middle of the square.

Riku stood for a moment, her arms held limp down her sides. Then she slowly raised them, pressing her palms together above her head before bringing her hands down her front. Her feet slid, her arms moved to mirror her legs, and she readied herself.

The Firebenders could move like dancers.

From her stationary position, Riku suddenly spun herself. Her legs twirled and fire spun out to meet them. As she landed on a hand, Riku swept her legs out and the rope of fire followed. Like a leash, it hooked onto every torched hut and dragged them along. Pushing herself up, Riku twisted in the air till she was vertical. She pulled the fire toward her, using it to lift her up into the sky till she spun in a column of writhing flame.

The fire had to go somewhere.

Riku was barely visible now in the center of the inferno, but Katara watched her sink like a diver in reverse. When she reached the ground, Riku lifted the column of fire and shoved it upward.

Katara had only seen fire like that during Sozin's Comet. Azula and Zuko had fought with massive walls of fire during their agni kai. Swaths of land were torched as easily as Katara could snap a blanket over a bed.

But this was wildfire, and Riku's bending was not being enhanced.

The fire dissipated and Katara saw Riku lying on the ground, unmoving.

The boy in her arms struggled to breathe. He had inhaled too much of the poisonous smoke.

And Katara couldn't bend.

She released the boy, placing him gently on the ground.

"What's your name love?" Katara asked. The boy coughed violently, his body curling around his chest. With no water, she could only wait out the fit.

"Li Jie." He answered.

"What happened here Li Jie?" Katara asked.

"A witch came. For the relic." Li Jie struggled to speak. His lungs which had been so desperate now rejected the clean air.

"What relic?"

"I don't know." Li Jie started to cry and Katara held his hand. "She said it was Kyoshi's. But we don't have it."

His sobbing turned into coughs and Katara placed her hand on his chest. His hammering heart was exposed and Katara yanked her arm away. The pain still came; a pressure that threatened to burst her body. Her wrists were taut, making her hands cold.

There was water in blood. And there was plenty of blood around them.

Her own pulse surged, begging her to release the pressure. The pain was unbearable and Katara pulled viciously at her bonds. One red band came loose and Katara could feel the call she had longed for so long.

Li Jei stiffened.

Mucus clogged his lungs and his blood thinned from the lack of oxygen. She could feel it. But more, Katara could feel just how small his heart was.

There was nothing good that could come from this. Bloodbending was never going to save him.

Grabbing the red band, Katara clasped it onto her wrist. Squeezing it around, Katara shuffled forward on her knees while Li Jei's body went limp. Pressing her forehead to his, Katara wept while she felt his heart slowly fade away.

With the last beat, the pressure in Katara's body slackened. Sitting back, she lifted Li Jei into her lap and began to gently brush the hair back from his face.

He was so young.

Lifting her head, Katara looked around. The charred remains of the village smoked, and the breeze sent the gray clouds dancing. So it took a moment for her to see the person standing at the other side of the square.

Katara was reverent as she rested Li Jei on the ground. Standing, Katara stared at the figure.

Sunlight glinted on something metal, just about where the person's hands might be. The glint lifted and Katara barely had time to react when she heard the familiar, ear piercing scream of an incoming explosion. She could only shift, but the explosion hit far behind her.

A Combustionbender.

Katara ran toward them, her free hand flexing. Swinging with it, a rope of blood swung out and swiped at the figure. They dodge, leaping up with incredibly dexterity.

Another scream and the ground in front of Katara exploded. Dirt and rocks sprayed her, but the blood only moved from her wounds and down her left arm.

Recalling her whip, the blood wrapped around her arm as it formed a gauntlet. Turning in a circle, Katara used her momentum to propel a rapid series of stakes out in an arc.

More glinting as the stakes shattered against something metal.

A larger explosion hit further in front of Katara and made her pause to shield herself. More debris hit her upraised arms and when she lowered them, the figure was gone.

Katara released the blood. Looking down, she saw how her entire left arm was now a deep purple. The poison blocked her waterbending and thrived in her blood. She could feel the pressure in her chest and didn't need to look to know it had spread over her breast. Idly, Katara wondered if it would kill her when it reached her heart.

"We need to go." Riku said.

Katara nodded, then turned as she felt Riku grab her hand. Numbly, she watched as Riku tied the red band around Katara's wrist.

"You can't slip. Both of us can't be insane." Riku stated.

Katara said nothing.

She could only think of Li Jei's shining green eyes.


	19. Following Leylines

There were important things that Aktuk knew. Most of it was inconsequential to the Spirit, but he knew where the Waterbender went after leaving the South Pole. He had objects that would be useful in tracking her. He knew important names. Sitting in an airship, combing again through Aktuk's memories, the Spirit roused for a moment. Moving Aktuk's hand away from his face slightly, the Spirit looked through his eyes and the broad window to the ground below. Spiritual energy rippled through a forest and the Spirit could almost taste it. It brought back memories of battle; memories of its own powerful jaws and the fragile mortals that stood against them. For a moment, the Spirit rushed to break free and fly as itself, as it had in the South Pole.

The thrill ebbed and the Spirit relaxed Aktuk's body. Now that the egg was in the physical realm, residing once again with its twin, a beacon had been lit. Spirits of all sorts would try to find it, as long as they had a way to pass through the veil.

The eggs could be used to create a portal, reopening the damage wrought by the idiot Avatar Wan. They were physical things born of Spirits and were powerful items to control. Of course, that wasn't why the Spirit in Aktuk was searching for them.

The locks on the poles required keys, but the eggs were only a part of it. Mortal midwives were required, and so two humans were vitally important. So important that they were linked with the eggs they had touched.

Touching the egg had marked the Waterbender, and what the egg suffered, so did she. The Spirit concerned itself with this fact only.

When the airship docked in Republic City, Aktuk moved quickly. His face was being sought after by the White Lotus, and neither his master nor the Spirit wanted to deal with that. Being in a borrowed physical form dampened the Spirit's sensing, and any delay in tracking the Waterbender would be costly. And, despite how some humans thought of it, the Spirit was not inherently an evil creature. Stories could be told and meetings in the darkness could end poorly, but the Spirit was not evil. The lives of humans were simply unimportant.

The apathy didn't help, but that was beneath the Spirit's concern.

Moving away from the dock, the smell of the city assaulted the Spirit and made Aktuk recoil. After being surrounded by the stench of metal during travel, it was stunning to have new versions of it attack. Metal of all sorts hung in windows, stood up from the ground, and studded almost every face of every building. Electricity crackled around wires in the air, snapping with artificial teeth. Then there was the smell of the mortals and their filth. They had managed to corrupt everything beautiful about energy and nothing pure was left.

Benders acted as pockets of clean air as the Spirit could feel the honest energy swirl within and around them. Aktuk drifted to a group of humans and the Spirits could feel the gritty energy in its teeth. Earthbenders.

"Excuse me." Aktuk said and the group turned. "I'm looking for the Beifong Metalbending Academy."

His blue eyes may have confused them, but one gave directions nonetheless. Aktuk thanked them and moved on, hurrying up the hill to escape the smell.

When he reached the school, the sun was high in the sky and his body had begun to sweat. Habit took over and after knocking on the door, Aktuk smoothed out his clothing. He paused when the door opened, revealing a thin man in black clothes.

"Yes?" He asked and Aktuk smiled.

"Hello, my name is Pilip and I'm looking for Master Katara." He said. The man relaxed and opened the door wider.

"Oh, sorry, she's been gone for awhile." He answered. Aktuk frowned and the Spirit restrained itself.

"That's unfortunate. I've come from the South Pole with a message and it's very important I get it to her. Would you be able to tell me where she is?" He inquired. The other man narrowed his eyes.

"Who did you say you were again?" He questioned.

Aktuk made a show of sighing and reached into a pocket, producing a small pai sho tile.

"My name is Pilip and I'm from the South Pole. I assume you're one of Toph's students?" He asked. The man took the tile and examined the white lotus. Obviously, such a token could be recreated, and the man grasped it.

"Why don't you come in?" The man said, stepping aside. Aktuk smiled and entered, feeling the change in temperature.

"Thank you. May I have some water?" He asked.

"Are you a bender?" The man asked.

In response, Akutk only smiled and kept walking. Ahead of him were the sounds of fighting and the Spirit could feel bending energy. Metalbenders. It was such a unique energy it almost made the Spirit giddy.

In the main room, two men sparred as a young woman watched. The man with Aktuk went to her and tapped her shoulder. As she turned, her eyes went to Aktuk but the man leaned in and whispered to her. She looked past his ear as he spoke and her eyes narrowed. She nodded as he leaned away and they both turned to Aktuk.

"You're with the White Lotus?" She asked

"No." Aktuk said and held up his hands as the woman and man went rigid. "I was sent by them! There's been concern over the Fire Lord and I was tasked with speaking with her."

The pair looked at each other just as the sparring men approached.

"What's going on?" One asked.

"He's looking for Katara." The first man answered.

"She left weeks ago." The other man started and froze as the woman hissed at him.

"Please, I understand things are tense, but I can prove I'm on her side." Aktuk said. He went back into his pocket and pulled out a folded paper. Even after being smoothed out, the deep creases crackling over it revealed that it had been crumpled up with heavy intent. Burns pockmarked it but the message had been reluctantly kept. It was a letter that should have never been written but once it existed could not be thrown away.

"It's fairly personal, but should explain why it's so important that I find her."

The woman took the letter and the three others crowded around her to read it. She finished first and looked up at him.

"We know something is happening in the Fire Nation." Aktuk stated.

"How do you have this?" The man who almost gave him information asked. He was angry.

"When the Fire Lord left for the South Pole, it was left among his things. The former regent Iroh allowed us to use it as its sensitive nature is the only reliable thing that we can use to know each other." Aktuk explained. Of course, the White Lotus had never even seen this letter. Aktuk and his people had thoroughly searched through the Fire Nation's things the same day the group had left for the South Pole. To know that the Fire Lord was in love with the Waterbender, and what he was willing to give up for her, was more useful to Aktuk's master.

"My sister would be the one to have this. Why isn't she here?" The same man demanded. The sister could only be Rin, the ambassador Aktuk knew. She had come when the Fire Lord invaded the north with his golden face.

"Your sister refused to be trained as a White Lotus apprentice. She wouldn't let anything undermine her oath to the Fire Lord." Aktuk smiled gently. "That letter is important, and I think we all know what her loyalty would have made her do with it."

"And why shouldn't we destroy it?" The man in black asked.

"I think Master Katara would want a chance to read it herself first, don't you?" Aktuk retorted. The woman neatly refolded the letter as the man in black grunted.

"You have to understand that this isn't easy to believe." The woman said, tapping the letter against her palm.

Aktuk began to answer but was interrupted by a knock at the door. The group all looked at each other and then at Aktuk, who shrugged. The man in black sighed heavily and moved forward to the door.

"May I please have a cup of water? It's very warm outside." Aktuk asked. The woman grumbled under his stare and looked over at the two other men. The one related to the adviser, Rin, moved into another room.

Aktuk listened as the front door opened and voices immediately broke in. The Spirit smiled at the voices, but did nothing till the man returned with a cup. More Earthbenders, and they were angry.

"Hey!" The man in black yelled. The visitors, two men wearing Earth Kingdom uniforms, barged in.

"We demand to know the whereabouts of Master Katara under the order of the Princess of Anyan." One guard barked.

"You'll have to wait your turn." Aktuk said.

"Excuse me?" The other guard demanded. "We have royal orders to find her."

"Yet neither she nor I are citizens under your jurisdiction." Aktuk replied.

"Under treaty code 54-" The first guard started but was choked off by a thin ribbon of water circling his neck.

The other guard tried to fall into an attack position, but the Spirit had already called for more water. Aktuk's cup barely hit the floor before water from the outside well rushed through the kitchen window and slammed into both guards. The man in black, stopped on the other side of the water column, looked like a fish with his mouth agape.

Pinned against the wall by the swiftly churning water, the guards flailed.

"You'll drown them." The woman yelled.

"No." Aktuk said and waited for the guards to stop moving. "I know what drowned men look like."

As the guards stilled, the Spirit pushed back the water and returned it to the well, drawing it out of the guards' lungs. They each gave a soft cough but laid prone on the floor, bone dry.

"I think it's fair to say that I could have easily done that earlier." Aktuk added.

"Yeah, we got that." The man in black replied darkly.

"That doesn't make us friends." The other brawler continued. Aktuk turned, leaving the man in black behind him.

"I only want to know where Master Katara is." He said. "Nothing else matters."

"Fine." The woman said. "She left for the Fire Nation palace a few months ago. Whatever happened while she was there, allegedly she ended up in this port two weeks ago. She didn't come here and she was with some Firebender woman. A friend at the Air Temple told us that she's heading to Ba Sing Se to meet up with the Avatar."

The Spirit growled, but Akutk nodded. The Avatar was one the Spirit wanted to avoid.

"Thank you." Aktuk said before bending down and picking up his cup. As he stood, he held it out and extended his other hand.

"I'll take the letter and tile and be on my way."

The three looked again at each other before the woman handed him the letter and took his cup. Aktuk turned, replacing the letter to his pocket while waiting to receive the tile. The man in black squeezed it in his fist, but dropped it in Aktuk's open palm. Aktuk stepped over the limp guards' legs and strode to the front door. With no further farewell or action, he opened the door and stepped out into the sunshine.


	20. Final Destination

The smell of smoke followed them. Even after they put miles between themselves and the village, the scent was woven into their clothes and hair. Katara and Riku didn't speak. The forest clamored around them making the concept of conversation unrealistic. There wasn't much to talk about anyway. Katara was tired down to her bones.

It didn't seem like there was much of a point in continuing. In fact, her death might do better in fixing things than this fatalistic death march. Going to the palace was meant to be her moment. She and her friends would find the bad guy, fight with them, and persevere. That was how things went. But there had never been a chance. There was no prince to crash into her village and announce his intentions, or soldiers to either evade or ambush. Even the enemies that had tracked them failed under the weight of the group's efforts.

But Katara was alone. Save for the help of a mad woman.

If she were to die, people would notice. Aang would return from whatever event was distracting him. The Water Tribes would be up in arms over her disappearance as it was. Economics could be subverted and whatever mysterious enemy that was following her would have nothing to hunt.

All that Katara had done was make things worse. Noren and Noriko would be terrified for their daughter, but unable to say anything. Her meddling had doomed Sokka and Toph. Her unwillingness to seek out either Amaq or Aang left her vulnerable.

Her boots, heavy with mud, struck hard at a root. Katara fell and was too slow to catch herself. Her knee buckled as it crashed against the thick root but the leaf carpeted ground softened the blow to her face.

"Blazes Katara, have you gone blind?" Riku snapped.

Eyes watering, Katara sniffled while pushing herself up. Already, her knee was throbbing and starting to swell. An easy injury to fix had she been able to bend.

"That was a nasty fall." A man's voice added.

Riku whirled, fire in her hands, and Katara looked up. A middle aged man and woman stood relaxed, regarding them.

"People have been looking for you Master Katara." The man said.

Katara sat back on the ground while Riku moved in front of her.

"Who are you?" Riku demanded.

"I'm more curious as to who you are, but I can see you're upset." The man said. Neither he nor the woman moved. He looked peaceful and the woman seemed more interested in Riku's fire blades.

"I don't stay upset for long." Riku retorted. Her blades lengthened and narrowed, looking a lot like ice picks.

"My name is Xai Bau. This is my companion Kanda." The man said and gestured to the woman before continuing. "I'm part of the White Lotus."

"That's how you know who I am." Katara said.

"You really need to stop talking." Riku seethed.

Kanda laughed and even Xai Bau smiled.

"It is indeed. And I'm very glad to see that you are alright." He replied.

"Well, sort of." Kanda added.

"Of course, being part of the White Lotus, I am completely at your assistance." Xai Bau said.

"Why are you here?" Riku questioned. Xai Bau looked confused and shrugged.

"White Lotus work of course. There's been reports of spirit activity here and, from the smell of things, you both probably saw some of its damage." He said.

Riku looked down at Katara. The glance meant nothing, as they didn't even have thoughts to give meaning to. They just shared a memory of fire and blood.

Shaking her hands, Riku got rid of her blades and crossed her arms over her chest.

"So what have you got?" She asked. "I assume because of how important you're acting, this White Lotus group must have some resources."

"Whatever you need, I can get." Xai Bau answered.

"We need to get to Ba Sing Se." Katara said.

"Done." Xai Bau said with a nod.

"Well, that was easy." Riku muttered and dropped her arms down to her sides.

"If you'll allow me?" Kanda asked and stepped forward. Perplexed, Riku moved aside and Kanda walked to Katara. Leaning down, Kanda scooped Katara up, cradling her in her arms.

Briefly, Katara looked at Kanda as she put her arms around the woman's neck. Her face was clear but for a few deep wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and mouth. White strands shot through her jet black hair, like chalk threading an ink stick. And her gold eyes gleamed. Firebender, of course.

"Our camp is close by. Kanda heard someone approach and now I'm glad we came out to meet you." Xai Bau said as Kanda walked toward him. Riku walked next to her at Katara's feet, looking uneasily between her and Xai Bau as he started to walk. Kanda followed Xai Bau, with Riku sticking close to her side.

"Don't let him make you think he's prophetic or anything." Kanda said. "We were hoping you were the spirit."

"Hoping?" Katara repeated.

"Like I said, it's the reason we're here." Xai Bau explained. "Though I think it's passed out of this area."

"And so we'd have to return to Ba Sing Se anyway." Kanda winked at Riku, who scowled.

"Coincidence or grand design, it's still advantageous." Xai Bau said with good humor. "Plus, with Iroh in the city, I think I'd be forgiven for believing in a little destiny."

"How do you know the spirit isn't here?" Riku inquired.

Xai Bau made a show of taking in and releasing a deep breath. "It's just something I can feel. It's why I was sent."

"Are you a Water Tribal?" She went on.

"No. Actually I'm from a long line of non-Benders. The first of my family was allegedly an Air Nomad reject." Xai Bau answered evenly. Kanda snorted.

"Well, there wasn't just a spirit." Katara interjected. "There was someone using combustion bending at the village."

Kanda and Xai Bau exchanged a worried look. Despite the coincidence of Kanda's bending, she was missing the ubiquitous tattoo on her forehead.

"We haven't seen any other people in the forest." Kanda replied.

"I think it's a very good thing that we found you then." Xai Bau said gravely. "Because people who align themselves with spirits don't normally have the best of intentions."

The campsite was very close and Katara was relieved to see it. The single tent was clean and the site was orderly. No camouflage, no hasty set up, nothing to hide. Katara wanted to cry at the sight of it.

Kanda set her down near the fire and dug a small kit out of her things. A sharp smelling ointment was uncorked and it made Katara's skin tingle when applied. It felt cool and numbed the pain, but Kanda had to wipe her hands before wrapping up Katara's knee.

Xai Bau meanwhile was pulling out some food. Smoked meat, hard cheese, and bread made their way into Riku and Katara's hands.

"You're both terribly dehydrated. Where have you been?" Xai Bau asked as he still rummaged through a bag. He pulled out a slightly withered apple and Katara's mouth watered. They both had been slightly starved too.

"We took the long way 'round." Katara said, intently watching as Xai Bau took out a small knife and cut the apple.

"The official word is that you took ill and wandered off. This is a far way to wander." He handed apple pieces to Riku and Katara.

"What's the unofficial word?" Riku asked, her mouth full of food.

"That the Fire Nation elite is trying to do you in." Kanda answered.

The apple was aged and the sugar made the fruit grainy. Still, it was tart enough to seem crisp and Katara's stomach gurgled.

"The White Lotus thinks it's the Fire Nation?" Katara asked.

"There's a lot of speculation but," Xai Bau said hurriedly. "You both really need some rest. We can talk on the way to Ba Sing Se."

Katara was tired. Unable to resist, and not seeing any point in doing so, she nodded. They ate and Kanda brought them some water to wash off some of the grime. It was then that Katara had to explain about her hands and her bending, fighting back feelings of guilt and shame. Xai Bau was gentle with her, looking a lot like the serene statues in the Air Temples. Perhaps he wasn't far off about his ancestor.

After they had eaten, Kanda carried Katara into the tent before holding back the flap for Riku to stagger in. They both collapsed onto the bedrolls and quickly fell asleep.

It was amazing how much easier things got with allies.

The next morning, Xai Bau gave them more food while Katara apologized profusely for taking their beds. Kanda told them a story about how Xai Bau had once forgotten to stake down their tent and it blew away while they had gone fishing.

As Kanda reapplied the ointment to Katara's knee, Xai Bau tried to work out how they would continue on. Not expecting to be out for long, they had carried all of their things in their packs. Both looked over full, but Xai Bau and Kanda had been doing this sort of travel together for years. Ultimately they decided to carry Katara in a seat that was hoisted between them. Kanda was nice in her dismissal of Riku's assistance, and Xai Bau assured them that he was not as elderly as he looked.

They were parental, and it seemed to strike something inside of Riku. Katara watched as Riku helped eagerly in breaking down the campsite and gathering things for Kanda to make the truncated palanquin. When everything was packed, Riku helped Katara hobble into the chair. Xai Bau and Kanda counted and lifted her in perfect unison on three.

Despite being a few miles from their airship, the act of carrying Katara made their progress slow. Neither of them complained, but Katara still felt bad when they stopped for a rest.

It did give them plenty of time to talk.

One of the theories in the White Lotus, supplied by Iroh himself, was that the Earth Princess was manipulating his nephew. What he worried about was the reaction of the Fire Nation nobels. When Iroh tried to return home after visiting Ba Sing Se, he received a letter informing him that he could not come back. His marriage to an Earth Kingdom citizen and ownership of an Earth Kingdom business accused him of subversion. The charge was ridiculous but stuck due to Iroh's position.

The letter stated that he would either have to divorce himself of his wife and business, or divorce himself from the Fire Nation royal family.

Iroh worried a coup was forthcoming if Zuko married the princess.

"Of course, this wouldn't be such an issue if he had married a Fire Nation woman, or someone of immense stature." Xai Bau said.

"More stature than a princess?" Kanda countered.

"Well, sure, I guess she would have had to do something extraordinary. Like save the world." He replied. Katara looked over at him, but Kanda jostled her as she repositioned her grip.

The sun was setting as they reached the small airship. It was similar to the one Zuko and Sokka took to Boiling Rock. After setting down the chair, Xai Bau fell back onto the ground and let out a loud sigh. Kanda shook her head and Riku took up his discarded pack swiftly. Katara watched as they both walked to the airship.

Riku almost smiled.

"So no bending at all?" Xai Bau asked.

Katara shivered, but covered it with a smile as she faced him.

"I can, but it makes the poison spread faster." She said. Xai Bau nodded but didn't say anything further.

It was a small airship, and Katara worked in silence with Xai Bau to redistribute the supplies among the packs. The food rations were nearly depleted, but Xai Bau only parceled them out into four small cloths. He folded them neatly, his fingers moving with calm dexterity.

Riku and Kanda fueled the ship, talking about something as the massive envelope filled. The balloon wasn't red, but white, with a black lotus painted on the side.

"Why do you wear blue and white?" Katara asked.

"Pardon?" Xai Bau paused in his packing to look at her.

"The White Lotus uniform is blue and white. Water Tribe colors." Katara said.

"That's because the original White Lotus were the ambassadors to the Spirits. A lucky few were the emissaries of the ones who do not speak with human tongues." Xai Bau paused again and turned back to his packing. "Before we became the Avatar's minders."

"I thought the Avatar was the bridge for the spirits?" Katara inquired.

"So why is it that you can also energybend?" Xai Bau retorted.

"Why I can what now?"

Xai Bau chuckled and stood as Kanda and Riku approached.

"I'll have to tell you soon what you really carry in your blood. Where the Avatar really came from. And why your sickness is not something to keep bound in a mystic's red net." Xai Bau gestured to Katara's wrists and she looked down.

There was dirt in her skull. When she closed her eyes, Katara could smell dirt and soot. The flowers of the festival, the fires there and in the village. Blood was a miasma outside of her, while purple slurry ran through her veins. Rice dust and burlap coated her hair and were prised into the corner of her eyes and underneath her fingernails. She was coated in their travel and weary from it.

Inside of the small airship, Katara started to doze off. Xai Bau gathered up a wool blanket and draped it over her, tucking it behind her shoulders. It would be cold up in the air, as he said, and Katara was too tired to remind him that she frequently rode flying bison. Not that it mattered; Katara was grateful for the weight of the blanket as it made a space that allowed for sleeping.

She was sleeping a lot. Her body fatigued quickly under the weight of debris and spiritual toxin. Now, as the sky dropped its own blanket while they rose to meet it, Katara sank back against the metal basket. Her knee warmed and pain radiated out in tectonic lines with every heartbeat. With a frown, Katara squeezed her eyes shut and tried to turn away from it, willing her leg to detach so she could rest.

Somehow, between heartbeats and seismic splitting, Katara fell asleep.

She woke violently as the basket landed. Trying to stand, she cried out as her knee once again buckled. Arms caught her and voices spoke around her in a dizzying swirl.

"She's burning up." Kanda said.

"Well they're both filthy and starving, I can't imagine that's done anything good for them." Xai Bau replied.

"Go get a guard. Tell them to ready a train." Kanda snapped.

"It's kind of pathetic that a Waterbender can't heal herself." Riku said.

There was a pause and Riku's voice changed. "Sorry."

Still in the basket, Katara rolled her head back till her crown was pressed against the metal wall. A river of stars poured across the sky, illuminating the banks with a purple hue. They shimmed in their run, coursing back the way Katara had flown. Perhaps they fell into the volcanoes of the Fire Nation. Perhaps that was why the Fire Lord had hair like the night sky and skin like a cold star.

"Gently." Kanda hissed as arms went under Katara's body. She moved upstream and the stars brightened. As her head bobbed in the air, Katara wondered if their world hung in another ocean. If there was another Sedna that swam above them and whose hair would drop down to entangle the unwary.

"Iroh is going to kill me for bringing her in like this." Xai Bau muttered.

The river of stars disappeared as Katara was pulled into another vehicle. The air changed and she knew she was enclosed now, but her neck wasn't strong enough for her to look around. Propped against a stone wall, she could only think about how thirsty she was.

"You saved her life. He might promote you out of field work." Kanda chided gently.

"I don't know, she looks half dead." Riku added. There was no rebuke this time, and the other people around her stayed quiet. The silence was broken as a stone door was shut and Katara was suddenly propelled forward.

It was a ferry then, taking her upstream of her starry river. The darkness was just the space around her, and she couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed. Rushing air curled in through the barrier around her, caressing the hot flesh of her exposed face and neck. That was when she noticed she was bundled up.

"So this is Ba Sing Se?" Riku questioned.

"The lower ring, yes. Have you been here before?" Xai Bau asked.

"I don't think so. I think I wanted to. I had a dream about being in the palace once." Riku said.

"Do you have family here?" Kanda questioned.

"Absolutely not." Riku answered indignantly. "I come from a great line of pure Fire Nation benders."

Katara snorted and sagged forward. Confused, she stared at her lap and wondered how she was going to get back up. Hands at either shoulder firmly pushed her upright and Katara looked around.

Glowing stones were embedded into the rock cart that was presently speeding down a track. It wasn't the elevated train, but neither was it like the mail crates from Omashu. Figures on either side of the cart were pushing them along, using their bending to race down the rail.

It was night, the moon was almost full, and Katara felt empty.

"We'll be there soon Katara." Kanda said, placing a hand on her lap.

"I called for a doctor to meet us at Iroh's home." Xai Bau continued.

After all the walking and sailing, the trip down the rail was faster than Katara had expected. When the cart stopped, the Earthbenders pushed their platform down to the street level. In fact, they were in the middle of the street.

The cart itself unfolded and sank into the ground, giving Katara a glimpse of the rail system before people started grabbing at her. The rail itself also sank down, kneeling like a one legged horse until the ground swallowed it up. They had created a temporary rail just for her.

"Katara!" Iroh's voice broke over her like a cold wave and Katara snapped her head around. Others were with him and Katara's gaze shifted over to them. As her body relaxed, all she could think about is how Rin looked nothing like her brothers. Save for the fact that they were all massive.

One of them lifted Katara and carried her into the house. From the angle of his arms, Katara rested against his chest and could feel his heart beating.

"I miss Rin too." He said. Katara jumped as he spoke, unaware that she had even had a coherent thought, let alone spoke it aloud.

"We need a tepid bath." A woman's voice said. "Her fever needs to come down now."

"Get her undressed." Xai Bau said.

"Get the men out! Boys!" The woman snapped.

"Ma'am, I-" Xai Bau started but stopped with a yelp.

"Go." Kanda said.

"Even Kyoshi's boots aren't big enough to kick sense into some men." The woman muttered.

Hands were on Katara again and air made her shiver as it found more exposed skin.

"Riku, would you please heat the bath to tepid?" Kanda asked.

"What's tepid?" Riku questioned.

"What your wash basin feels like in the middle of a summer day." The woman said.

Katara was lifted into the air and began to shudder violently. Then she was in water.

The shivering didn't stop or even lessen, but she was submerged. Katara didn't know she was crying until the other woman was stroking her hair and shushing her gently.

"The doctor is here." One of Rin's brother's called through the door. It opened and Katara opened her eyes as firelight made her eyelids glow.

A middle aged man with a round face and thick glasses was staring at her.

"A Waterbender?" He asked, seemingly questioning his being called in the first place.

"Not at the moment." Katara replied. The doctor looked down and nodded.

"I need more light." He said and sat back on his heels, rolling up his sleeve. "What are your symptoms?"

After the bath, the doctor gave Katara a bitter tonic to drink that brought her fever down to a normal temperature. She had an infection, possibly even a parasite or two considering her travel. Both she and Riku were given medicine for it, and Riku was given more of her normal medication. Katara's knee was fractured, and the doctor complained passively about Iroh as he bemoaned the lack of supplies. Still, he managed to set a cast that left Katara's knee immobilized and forbade her from standing on it for two months.

After getting her dressed and in bed, he turned to her veins.

There were very few doctors in the world who believed in the humors, and this doctor certainly wasn't one of them, but he still held the tools of the practice. Attempting to bleed Katara resulted in the immediate death of three leeches.

"All of the body's blood goes through the heart. From there, it is sent everywhere and we have learned that the same blood that circulates in your foot also goes to your brain." The doctor started, tapping the sole on Katara's uninjured leg. "If this poison gets to your heart, it will go to your brain. And I cannot imagine what damage that may do to you."

"What do you recommend?" Iroh asked.

"If it's spiritual as she says, I would recommend finding the Avatar." The doctor said and stood, putting his hands on his lower back before stretching backward. "I'm made to understand that you know him."

"Thank you doctor." Iroh replied softly.

"You're welcome. I'll go see your wife about payment then?" The doctor asked.

Iroh led the man out and Katara took in a shuddering breath as Riku came into view. Sitting on the stool the doctor had just vacated, she handed Katara a cup and two pills. The doctor had left some painkillers then.

Shifting onto her elbow, Katara first took the pills and put them in her mouth before grabbing the cup. Swallowing more tepid water, Katara almost gagged on the bitter pills, but managed to hand the cup back before starting to cough.

Still exhausted, she rolled onto her back with a sigh.

The bed dipped down by her feet and then Riku was lying next to her, curled gently away from Katara's side.

"I'm sure they can get a bed for you." Katara said.

"I know. I just." Riku stopped and Katara rolled her face onto her cheek to look over.

"I don't trust him." Riku added in a whisper.

"Iroh?" Katara asked, whispering back. Riku nodded, her face tight with anxiety.

"He's the Fire Lord's uncle." Katara went on.

"I'm not exactly fond of the Fire Lord either, remember?"

"But you're fond of me?"

"Out of everyone here Katara, you're the least likely to kill me." Riku wriggled herself deeper into the mattress and curled awkwardly to grab at the blanket.

"Not tonight at least." Katara replied.

"No, not tonight." Riku said, settling the blanket over them both.

In between heartbeats, Katara fell asleep.


	21. Promises

Suki held her head in her hands. Li Na, still wearing the full Kyoshi regalia, looked down at the floor while Suki collected herself. It was bad enough to know that she had failed in protecting Zuko, but now.

"Are they okay?" Suki asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"The princess was satisfied with their discipline. And they know it wasn't, that you weren't yourself." Li Na answered.

With a shake of her head, Suki let out a sigh and sat up.

Chihiro, her only ally outside of the palace, was gone. Katara had disappeared and Iroh was being kept from returning. Now Suki had her freedom and Sokka, but both could be taken away if she were poisoned again. The spring was coming to an end and the summer summit was approaching quickly.

"Suki, is really such a bad thing to allow Ozai to be executed?" Li Na questioned.

"It will destroy Zuko."

"I think it'd be more important to rescue the Fire Lord than worry about also saving his traitor father."

"Of course it is, but we were never the types to not go for it all." Suki stood and walked to her window. It wouldn't look right for her to keep everything shuttered if the rest of the palace was supposed to think she was still under their control.

"Suki, if I may." Li Na began as she walked a few steps behind Suki.

"Of course."

"Why are you so concerned about the Fire Lord anyway? Shouldn't you be getting our sisters out of here?"

Li Na's question was like being doused by cold water. Suki remembered Sokka's face when he told her that he had chosen her instead of freeing Toph.

"Zuko needs me."

"Suki, we need you. You're our leader and our sisters are in grave danger staying here. Why don't we leave, collect the rest of our family, and rally our allies?"

"I can't leave Zuko here!" Suki seethed, gripping the shutters tightly for a moment before throwing them open.

"We are a family, and we will always look after each other. But there is no one for Zuko." Suki continued, calming her tumultuous mind and she braced herself against the windowsill.

"Sokka is his blood brother." Li Na countered.

"And the princess knows that, so she's watching him very closely. She doesn't know about," Suki drifted. It wasn't embarrassment that kept her from continuing - the other Kyoshi Warriors understood the varied ways relationships formed - but it was out of her own sense of shame and regret.

The last time they had been together, before they traveled to Hira'a, they had fought viciously. They were keeping secrets from each other, which was something they had promised not to do. Zuko had disappeared under false pretense and now she was unable to get to him.

She didn't know if she still deserved the place she held in his life.

"I can get to Zuko. I can get him out of this daze." Suki said.

Li Na sighed but put a hand on Suki's shoulder.

"So what do we do?" Li Na asked.

Suki rubbed her face and pulled down her cheeks as she looked out into the garden outside of her room.

"What are the rumours around Katara's disappearance?" She asked.

"A neighbor of the Hirasawa's claims that he saw a flower seller leave their manor, which is odd since they have their own garden." Li Na answered.

"And then went where?"

"No one knows. Still, she somehow slipped out of the city before the gates were closed. There was a family camped outside that said a pair of sisters were leaving the city and heading to the docks, but that's all."

"Sisters? Who in the city…" Suki froze and her gaze met that of a fox perched on a low wall running along the edge of the garden. It twitched an ear and stretched its body in an arch. With a lazy flick, the fox's tail swished in the air. And split into thirds.

As the fox sat back on its haunches, the three tails continued to swish independently of each other.

"She left with Riku." Suki stated.

"That's not, ideal." Li Na replied.

"Besides the possibility of her murderous tendencies resurfacing, I actually think it's perfect. She stood against us pretty well."

Li Na made a noise and Suki laughed. Somehow perturbed by the noise, the fox on the wall stood up and leapt off the wall, disappearing on the other side.

"Get a message out to Ty Lee. Have a pair of Warriors take it, whomever wants to leave but won't say so. Ty Lee will know how to contact Chihiro but, more importantly, she'll know how to find Riku." Suki said.

"What should the message be?"

"Call in the reinforcements. And get Katara back here."


	22. Family Matters

Katara woke in a sweaty tangle of limbs. Riku's skin felt feverish, but so did hers, and the late morning sun was already baking the inside of the cramped house. Rolling away from Riku's sleeping form, Katara could feel the cool layer of sweat from where their skin touched. It repulsed her only as a sensation in and of itself. It reminded her of sharing a bed with Sokka when he was sick when they were children.

At least this time there wasn't a surprise waiting for her in her hair.

Despite her best intentions to move slowly, Riku startled awake just as Katara had to pull along the weight of the cast. Disoriented, she flailed about.

"Hey, it's okay." Katara murmured, holding out a hand. Riku stilled and ran a hand through her hair. It was getting back to its old length, and Katara was surprised that her face hadn't magically changed back into Azula's.

The look of malcontent was somehow still the same.

Katara managed to sweep her stiff leg out and leaned uncomfortably to put her other foot on the floor. Grimacing, Katara pulled up the wide leg of her pants to examine the flaking cast. The doctor had used some white powder to make a mixture that he soaked bandages in before wrapping them around a splint. The cast was stiff, and held Katara's leg out straight even as she relaxed it. But it was causing some discomfort in her hip.

Sighing, and listening to Riku rustle behind her, Katara looked around. The room they had stayed in looked like some sort of work room. Situated on the east side of the house, the sun was bursting through the slits of the window covers. The demanding light had roasted them in their sleep, but also gave them a strong drink of light. It was no surprise to Katara to see the room filled with plants.

The greenery made Katara's pulse jump as she remembered the Hirasawa's garden. But these were ferns and bushes, and a surprising number of bonzai trees.

One of which looked suspiciously like an artfully pruned apple tree that was actually budding.

The plants filled the room with oxygen and Katara took in a bracing breath as she tried to stand, supporting herself with the bed frame. The pain in her leg was intense and she fell back onto the bed with a cry.

"You're still injured, idiot." Riku stated as she crawled over to the edge of the bed, bumping Katara with her shoulder.

"It's not something I'm used to." Katara replied. Riku snorted and stepped out of the bed, stretching while looking around. She found the pill bottle and a pitcher of water, returning with some of both to give to Katara. After Katara took them, Riku moved off again.

Walking silently, Riku moved around the room to examine it. Katara watched her, using her as a crutch to do the same.

"Earthbending peasants are bizarre. I can't tell if this is a bedroom or a plant shop." Riku muttered, shoving aside a spray of fern strands to look at a piece of furniture.

The greenery was a surprise for Earthbenders, as Katara had no reason to think this was Shui's room. Toph liked dirt and rocks, and a vast amount of Earth Kingdom architecture was about the marvel of stone. If Katara had to describe an Earth Kingdom room, she'd either pick hot and beige or cool and crystalline.

This was more musty and wood.

A light tapping came just before the door opened and both Riku and Katara froze, turning quickly toward the sound. Shui bustled in with a tray and a big smile.

"I've brought you girls some jiaozi and tea." She said.

"Thank you, Yong." Katara fumbled over the name, unsure of how to address the woman. She and Iroh were close, of a kind. And then there was her relationship with Zuko, well, he didn't know about that.

"Oh call me Shui, my darlings. If the Fire Lord can manage it, I believe you both can as well." Shui put the tray down on a clear space of what looked like a writing desk.

"I'm sorry the room is in such a state. I don't tend to come in here since Rin left." She said. Riku stalked over to the desk, her gaze intent on the tray.

"This is Rin's room? I didn't think she was into plants." Katara remarked.

"Are you kidding? Haven't you seen her house?" Shui put together a small plate and poured a cup of tea, handing both to Riku. "Rin created most of the Jasmine Dragon's popular teas."

"Rin makes tea?" Katara repeated.

"She was the most like her father; everything he did, she wanted to do." Rin paused as she poured another cup of tea, her face looking sad and distant. "I don't suppose she makes tea anymore."

Blinking, Shui turned and brought Katara a dish of small dumplings. Balancing them on her knee, she reached out readily for the tea.

"It's surprising she and Iroh don't get along then." Katara said before taking a small sip. Shui cupped her chin in her hand and sighed.

"That's what I thought. But she's stubborn."

After a clatter, Katara and Shui looked to see Riku dumping the cup of tea down her throat. She put the cup down and looked back at them.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I don't care about whatever this is. I'm going to go practice." Riku said and then abruptly walked out of the room.

"She's an odd one." Shui said.

"You have no idea." Katara muttered and drank more of the tea. Shui sat down and let Katara eat for a moment in silence.

"Iroh told me he knows her." Shui stated.

Katara tried to take in a breath as she was swallowing and choked a little. After clearing her throat, she stared down at her plate.

"She came from the palace, originally." Katara explained tersely. "She got me out of the city."

Shui tilted her head. "Why did you have to get out of the city?" She paused and frowned a bit. "What city?"

If Xai Bau and Kanda had said anything to Iroh, it must have been in private.

"I think I need to check in with Iroh before I explain." Katara said.

Shui clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "Oh this White Lotus stuff. He shouldn't have married a gossip if he wanted to keep so many secrets."

Standing up, Shui wiped her hands down the front of her tunic.

"Fine, I won't ask questions." She said and started to walk to the door.

"Wait." Katara lunged awkwardly, almost upending the plate of dumplings. Shui stopped and looked at her curiously.

"Rin was," Katara's mind sputtered as she tried to find the words. "Rin's in trouble."

Shui's face darkened and Katara froze in her graceless half stance.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Shui asked. Shui was a non-Bender, but Katara could still feel the ground roll beneath her.

Swallowing hard, Katara sat back down.

"Something is happening in the Fire Nation palace. Rin's been," She took a breath. "Controlled."  
To her shock, Shui's face relaxed.

"Ah, but she's fine then? You had me worried. Knowing Rin, anything she's gotten into was probably by choice and without proper thought to the consequences." Shui said.

Stunned, Katara could only stare at her.

"Everything will work out, and maybe when this is all over, she'll realize how selfish she always is." Shui moved back to the door shaking her head. "Having you in such a state to rescue her my goodness."

The door never closed and Katara waited for someone to come in and explain this to her. To make sense of this callousness.

Looking around the room again, Katara could perfectly imagine how a young girl who made tea grew up to be Rin.

After eating, Katara found crutches that someone had left leaning against the wall by the door. She took it, adjusting the padding under her armpits, and shambled slowly out into the hall. Of course, she shouldn't have been putting any weight on her knee at all, but at least everyone recognized that she never had any intention of listening to that.

Luckily, Rin's room was on the first floor. It was a servant's room, being adjacent to the cramped kitchen shoved at the back of the building. The Jasmine Dragon tea house took up the front and the rest of the living quarters were upstairs. It was all confusing, and really, Katara had the most clashing expectations of the place. It was strange to think of Iroh, as a member of the Fire Nation royal family to live in such a place, let alone in the middle ring. It was strange to imagine a younger Rin waking up early to stoke fires and prepare kettles. It was stranger still to think that Iroh hadn't moved his family into a new building to escape the ghost of Rin's father.

Rin's brothers were working in the kitchen, as the shop had not closed at Katara's calamitous arrival. One of them spotted her and came to her.

"Did you need anything?" He asked. Katara shook her head, gripping the crutch with both hands and trying to steady herself.

"I'm just looking for Iroh." She said.

"Ah." He straightened and looked toward the back of the room. "He's out with your friend, helping her practice."

With a chuckle he looked back at Katara. "It's so odd seeing Firebenders move so gracefully."

"And with less fire." Another brother added as he poured water from a massive kettle into a row of teapots.

The brother in front of her shook his head and smiled at Katara.

"I was just about to bring them more tea. Would you like to come with me?" He asked. Katara nodded and waited as he assembled a similar tray to the one Shui had brought her.

Hobbling after him, Katara tried to picture Rin in this place, with these people.

She couldn't get over how weird it was to have so many brothers.

At the back of the kitchen was a door and the man slid it back with his foot. It was obviously a well practiced motion for him and the tray didn't even shake. He walked out before her, stepping down gingerly from the short deck. Katara didn't attempt to repeat any of his motions and left the door open as she stood on the deck.

Iroh moved through some forms slowly as Riku watched him, moving just a second behind him. Seemingly at ease, Iroh smiled and encouraged Riku as she stepped through a complicated series. When she finished, Iroh nodded to her and then looked at Katara. His eyes met hers for only a moment before turning to the tea.

"Thank you Bo." Iroh said as he held back a sleeve to pick up a cup. Riku ignored all of them and repeated her motions. Iroh watched her for a moment, but then walked with Bo back to the deck. Bo left the tray next to Katara before stepping up and walking back into the kitchen. Iroh and Katara both sat down. She pushed her back to the wall, leaving her leg room to stretch out, while Iroh perched on the edge.

"I can't believe it's her." He said softly, watching Riku.

"Have you told them?" Katara asked. Iroh shook his head.

"I couldn't. It's complicated."

"Well, I mean, not really."

"It's complicated for me Katara."

Silent, Katara picked up the other tea cup. Bo had brought out a pot and she had woken up thirsty. And these were small cups.

"Where is Xai Bau?" Katara inquired.

"He and Kanda went to a White Lotus house. I'm sure they'll be back." Iroh answered.

"Did you speak with them?"

"I did. And I must say, I am very glad to see you in one piece."

"But what do we do about Zuko?"

Iroh sighed and hung his head for a moment. He looked tired.

"I'm working with the others to see if we can get Zuko out. That way we can find out who's behind this without storming the palace." He answered.

"But what about Sokka and the others? What about Rin?" Katara questioned. Iroh looked pained and it made Katara's stomach sour.

"Sometimes we have to make choices, Katara." Iroha said.

Riku let out a strong yell and they both turned to see her do a spinning kick, flames spiraling around her like ribbons. When Riku landed, Iroh clapped politely.

"Try not to burn the tea bushes please." He said and Riku only straightened out her tunic.

"I would think Shui would want Rin to be saved as well." Katara remarked.

"She will be fine," Shui's voice came out as a huff behind them. "You're both already plotting so everything will be worked out."

"How can a mother be so cold?" Katara spat thoughtlessly. Iroh stared at her and Katara recoiled, feeling her face heat.

"My mother faced down Fire Nation soldiers to protect me and perished. You think everything will be okay because an old man and a crippled Waterbender are fretting?" She continued.

Now Shui's face reddened and she bristled at the question.

"My daughter knew what kind of danger her position held and-" She started but was interrupted by Katara's reprimand.

"No one could expect such a thing!" Katara retorted.

"I helped save the world, and even I ended up stumbling out of a stranger's house, half-mad, only to end up here and looking like this." She continued and held up her hands as a firm punctuation to her statement.

Her hands were completely purple.

In her fear, Katara tried to rise while also putting her hands to her throat, causing her to pitch off the side of the porch. Iroh reached for her, but Katara hit another person.

At the lopsided height of Riku's person versus that of the deck, Riku slowly leveraged Katara back into a sitting position.

"You're hysterical, get a hold of yourself." She said to Katara with disdain, then turned to Shui. "And you really are a terrible mother."

Riku stepped up onto the deck, somehow standing between all three of them.

"And you," She went on, looking at Iroh. "Aren't you the uncle?"

Iroh only looked back up at her.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

Katara saw Azula then. The set of her shoulders was regal and sturdy; the weight of a nation could have rested as easily there as one of Zuko's ornamental robes. Her chin was held firm, but no too high that she was looking down her nose at Iroh. She was elevated enough and didn't need to resort to snobbery.

And her eyes were exactly the same sharp cut of gold that Azula had.

"Suki sent-" Shui began but Riku held her hand up in the woman's face.

"Why did you let it get this bad?" She asked Iroh. He still said nothing and Riku lowered her hand with a disgusted tsk.

"No one ever looked out for us." She muttered and stalked back inside. Bewildered, Iroh looked at Katara and she shook her head.

"That girl is so rude!" Shui said shrilly.

"People are in trouble." Katara said, sounding much gentler now.

"Don't you think I know that? I survived a siege and a breach, and have been widowed." Shui retorted. "Is it so wrong to have faith?"

She too walked back inside and Katara hoped she hadn't gone after Riku; she was far too tired to hobble after her to try and mediate.

"They'll be fine." Iroh said, sensing her fears.

"Why is Rin in the palace? I mean, I can understand why she's not here, but…" Katara drifted and looked out into the garden. From where she sat, it didn't look like any of the grass was so much as singed.

"I brought Shui and her children to the palace after Zuko's formal coronation. All of the Yongs are older than him, and it was a bit awkward at first. Rin didn't make things any easier; she was still very angry with her mother." Iroh started, but paused as Katara made a face.

"That's actually another question." She said and Iroh chuckled.

"How I ended up marrying Shui?" Iroh glanced over his shoulder at the still open door. He then went about pouring them both more tea and warming it with his bending.

"I had wanted to open a tea shop, but knew I couldn't run one until after Zuko came of age. So when I heard of a widow with five children running one in the middle ring, I thought I would purchase it. She would be able to run it without any financial worries and I would be able to have an entry point to the city." He said.

"And you swept her off her feet with your charity?" Katara asked, partially sarcastic.

"She wouldn't sell, and when I went to see her for myself, she threw a teapot at me." Iroh replied and Katara laughed.

"The Jasmine Dragon was her husband's shop, and she would never sell it. She raised her children here." Iroh placed a hand on the warm deck, letting out a heavy breath. "It's why I don't live here. Not very many married couples live in different nations."

"Is that why Shui doesn't live in the palace?" Katara asked. "Because she has to be here?"

"Oh, no, any of her children are more than capable of running this place. They're just waiting on someone else to make the claim, since Rin left." Iroh drank some of the tea and Katara mirrored him.

It was good tea.

"Rin was the expected heir. She was the only one who matched their father in tea making. But after visiting the palace, she wanted to stay there." Iroh concluded.

"But wasn't Zinna living here? Why did they move to the Fire Nation, of all places?" Katara questioned.

"Because one night at dinner, Zuko told war stories and Rin asked when he got the scar on his face. When he told her that his own father had burned him, and how he had regained his honor through his work with the Avatar, Rin chose to stay." Iroh said. "Rin is very focused on cause and effect. She has a difficult time seeing the entire playing board. But because of who she is, she will push forever in the same direction until she changes her mind. Always based on her own reasons."

They fell silent, drinking their tea and staring out at the small garden. An urge bubbled up in Katara's throat, and she considered it.

It wouldn't take much to tell Iroh that she was in love with his nephew.

Staring down into her tea cup, seeing her purple fingers curled around it, Katara wondered what would happen. The hundreds of tiny movements that could occur on the playing board, most without her input at all.

Her marriage appeal might be stronger, as Xai Bau suggested. It would unite two nations, and offer reprieve to her people without adding another burden on the Fire Nation.

But Xianji could do just the same, and more, with her marriage.

And the Fire Nation had already rebuked one royal for taking a foreign bride and had a rebellion roiling under the imperial streets over another.

What was best for Zuko? And what was best for his country?

Katara flinched at the thought, and felt her hands prickle.

"Were the Hirasawas part of the Society?" Katara asked.

"The Hirasawas? What business do you have with them?" Iroh asked feverishly. His energy startled Katara and she took a moment before going on.

"I don't really know. They poisoned me, or saved me." Katara frowned and shook her head, trying to remember. "When I was at their home, I heard people talking." She looked plaintively at Iroh. "Have they done this before?"

Iroh looked uncomfortable.

"The Hirasawas are distantly related to the royal family. They have often tried to close that distance." Iroh grumbled a bit and shifted uncomfortably. "The current head of the family, he and his wife were the first to make friends with Ursa. And I have suspected that they were the ones to give her the poison to kill my father."

It shocked her, to her of Ursa's crime so plainly spoken, but also to hear of this previous Iroh. He had been the crown prince. He had fought for the Fire Nation. He had grieved over the death of his tyrannical father and of his soldier son.

If Lu Ten had been part of the Southern Raiders, would she have come to love Iroh so?

The sickness in Katara surged and she swallowed bile. Love was a complicated thing indeed.

The doctor returned in the afternoon to tend to Katara's knee. He remarked on some damage to the cast and reprimanded her for getting out of bed. While applying new bandages, he found her a willing captive and told her about how the bone would heal, how the parts of the knee worked, and how the tendons bound muscle to bone. After, he spoke to Iroh, taking him for her guardian, and expressed how important it was for Katara to stay in bed.

As he left, Xai Bau and Kanda entered. Xai Bau took Iroh outside for a private talk, while Riku excitedly went to Kanda, talking about the form Iroh had shown her. Alone in the room, lying in Rin's bed, Katara could hear the collective chatter of stranger patrons and the people she knew. Under the effects of the pain medication, the voices fizzled in her ears and she started to drift.

Her entire leg still ached, but the pills made her indifferent to it. Her stomach was still twisting, and Katara considered the possibility of a large worm making its home there. Yet her mind pictured an eel; a miniature tizheruk roiling over itself in her guts. Katara's throat burned and salt water poured down her front.

She stood gasping in the snow as a man in gold put his hand to her neck.

Katara woke up, sucking in a sharp breath. Sweat drenched her shirt and her throat was bone dry. Struggling to sit up, Katara looked to the window. The light was dimmer, but was nowhere near dusk. Voices still clamored outside of the room, but Katara couldn't find the familiar threads of the ones she knew.

Her head was spinning a little and the room shifted in her vision.

"You're awake." Iroh said as he walked into the room. Katara rubbed her eyes.

"Was I asleep for long?" She asked.

"No. You were only napping." He answered.

Finding his tone odd, Katara stared at him.

"What is it?" She questioned.

"Queen Ruan has invited us to dinner." Iroh said.

The tizheruk flailed and Katara gagged.


	23. Cast a Net, Catch a Fish

Suki walked stiffly in her uniform. Xianji moved gracefully beside her, but Suki fought the urge to look over. Over the past week, she and Sokka had only been poisoned three times between them and luckily never at the same time. But this was the first instance of Suki being close to any of the important people while not being drugged. She had to be convincing, and staying as still as possible would be her best bet.

"Have you met our guest before Suki?" Xianji asked suddenly.

"No your highness." Suki answered sharply.

Mai had been enough of a surprise; Suki didn't know how to feel about the Prince of the North's arrival. She had tried to meet with Sokka beforehand, but after two of the Kyoshi Warriors had disappeared, she was being watched closer.

Xianji smiled but looked frustrated.

"All of this would be different if he had accepted my proposal." She muttered. Suki felt a shiver start at her neck and she flexed as many muscles as she could to keep from shuddering.

Xianji would have been a nightmare for anyone she married.

The Earth Kingdom princess was not as bold as Azula and so she did not meet with guests in the throne room. Instead, Xianji entered the only slightly less subtle war room.

As she sat at the head of the empty table, Suki walked to her side and watched Xianji motion to a servant. The man ducked out of a side door and Xianji folded her hands in her lap with a sigh.

"I heard this was the room that got Zuko into a lot of trouble." Xianji said. Suki didn't move or respond and Xianji didn't press her.

"Families are so funny. Did you know I spent twelve years in Ba Sing Se?" Xianji looked up at Suki and then scoffed, clearly not expecting an answer. "The Dai Li told me it was because I was so precious to the Earth King, being his niece. But he never saw me."

Xianji looked back at the empty table and was quiet for a moment.

"I was a hostage, to make sure my mother behaved. But my mother had taught me to be obedient." She said.

Xianji went quiet again and Suki glanced quickly at her from the corner of her eye. She was looking down at her hands.

"There was one night, when I thought I would meet my uncle. At his bear's birthday party." Xianji said softly. She then shook her head and looked up. "I actually met-"

The main door opened and Xianji turned away. Suki blinked, trying to figure out what she had just been told.

A different servant had opened the door and the man who entered the room was the largest Suki had ever seen in her life. His hair was shaved on the sides with the top long and tied up; a more severe version of Sokka's haircut.

"Prince Amaqjuaq, welcome." Xianji said and opened her hands.

"Thank you Princess, but where is the Fire Lord?" Amaqjuaq asked. Xianji lowered her hands and frowned.

"The Fire Lord is unwell and is resting. But as his bride-to-be, how can I assist you?" She replied.

"This is a matter of the council, of which you are not a member." Amaqjuaq said. "I will speak to the Fire Lord and no other."

"I'm afraid that's not possible. You see-"

Amaqjuaq slammed his hand flat on the table, making Xianji jump.

"I don't care what's possible. I will see the Fire Lord or else you will have an army of Waterbenders in your harbor by sunset." He said, his voice booming in anger.

"Are you threatening the Fire Lord, sir?" Xianji asked casually.

"I do." Amaqujuaq said and Suki stiffened. "The day he did not produce my own bride-to-be to confirm her health, he incurred the wrath of all three tribes."

From this close, Suki could see the muscles in Xianji's jaw shift as she clenched.

"You are engaged to Master Katara?" She asked.

"I am." Amaqjuaq said and bared his teeth in a menacing grin. "We didn't want to outshine your own engagement by announcing ours so soon after."

Xianji's jaw shifted and then she brightened.

"I could only imagine how fraught I would be if my precious lord was to go missing. I will go and talk to Zuko but first," Xianji stood and gestured to the servant still at the door. "Would you like some tea?"

A scream froze in Suki's throat as she saw Amaqjuaq force down his anger. He gripped the back of a chair and stood up straight, looking very much like a polar bear dog on its hind legs.

"That would be nice, thank you." He said with restraint. Suki continued to scream, begging the prince to look at her.

"I won't be but a moment." Xianji said and stepped away from the chair. "Suki?"

Suki held her breath, hoping to hear the simple command to guard the prince.

"Come with me, I'll need your help rousing the Fire Lord." Xianji said and continued to the door. Suki walked silently after her, trying to catch Amaqjuaq's eye. But he turned away, pulling out the chair and taking a seat.

He looked frustrated and tired.

He looked sad.

As Suki passed him, she briefly closed her eyes.

He wouldn't look so the next time she saw him.


	24. The Queen

Getting dressed was an awkward affair. The dresses that Shui picked out were fine, but none of them made enough room for Katara's cast. Shui ended up draping the dress over her before tying it loosely, making Katara look more lascivious than intended. The hastily pinned hair and fraying red bracelets added something more desperate to the look.

Riku watched, disgusted.

"This is exactly how she wants us, you know." She commented as Katara sagged onto the crutches.

"Where she wants me, Riku. She has no idea who you are." She replied, already sounding tired.

"Her daughter is going to know you're here." Iroh said.

They had closed up the shop. While not explicitly said, Shui insisted that she go along as well. Having more of the non-essential players would make it more likely that they would all actually leave the dinner alive. Plus, Shui and her sons were Ba Sing Se residents; it would make it harder to cover up.

But now, they all gathered together at one of the empty tables. Shui looked nervous, but not regretful. Her sons seemed even less sure, but didn't say anything.

"We'll have to find a way to leave, though I doubt Ruan will like that." Katara said and vigorously rubbed her face with both hands.

A knock sounded at the front door and the group froze. Haoran, the oldest of the two brothers, got up and went over. As he opened it, he was almost barreled over by Xai Bao and Kanda as they headed inside.

"Oh thank the spirits you're still here." Xai Bau said. Kanda's face was tight with worry and Riku straightened as the woman looked at her.

"Is there any way you can get out of this dinner?" Xai Bau asked as he walked with purpose to the table.

"One cannot say no to a queen Xai Bau." Iroh said carefully. Xai Bau stopped at the table, seemingly yanked by invisible reins. Katara had forgotten that both men were part of the White Lotus, and Xai Bau was clearly Iroh's junior.

"Iroh, you must understand that none of what happens tonight will be good." Xai Bau said. Kanda walked up and put her hand on his arm. Silver flashed at her wrist and Katara stared at the wide bangle; it's odd markings making no discernable pattern.

It almost looked like something clipped onto it.

"That's why I need you to contact the other members in the city. We're going to have to get Katara and Riku out of here." Iroh said.

"I can take them." Xai Bau replied hurriedly.

"That's fine, but you'll still need a way out." Iroh said.

"And the ship still needs to be refueled." Kanda added gently.

"Sounds like something that can be taken care of while we're at dinner." Shui said and the others looked at her.

"Right." Xai Bau said, slinking back. "Of course."

Another knock came, pushing Xai Bau and Kanda out of sight. The rest of them moved to the front, opening the door and seeing a palace guard just outside.

The uniform was so close to the Dai Li's that Katara felt her throat close. Certainly, there were very few citizens of Ba Sing Se that knew about the Dai Li's betrayal, and it felt like the city was attempting to brush it aside. If it looked like the Dai Li and talked like the Dai Li, who would care if they weren't the Dai Li?

The man bowed and stepped aside, gesturing for them to come out. A trolley car sat in the street without the rest of the trolley. Seeing the other massive Earthbenders, Katara knew what kind of ride she was in for.

One of the Benders was decorous and helped her up, holding onto her crutches until she was settled on the rock slab that acted as their bench. She sat between Haoran and Jiro, having them act as ballast while she stretched out her leg. Riku sat uneasily at the end of the other slab, fidgeting as she sat next to Shui and Iroh.

Katara wondered if it would have made Riku feel any better if she knew who she really was, and who Iroh was in her life.

The palace guard stood in the door of the car and the Earthbenders pushed it forward.

It was getting late, but the sun was still firmly entrenched in the sky. It was coming to summer then, and the summit was now only a few weeks away. Zuko would marry and Ozai would be executed; and the whole world would start to fall to the Earth Kingdom pressures.

Toph's parents - having inherited half a dozen industries through the generations - were everywhere. City kingdoms looking to recoup their losses from the war looked ever eastward. The patches of oil fields had proven to clarify into something more useful than coal, and larger pools of the substance had been found in the South Pole. Without the help of the Fire Nation, there wouldn't be enough for them to hold out from the insistence that the Earth Kingdom be allowed to drill.

All it took was one marriage and the whole world would topple into Ruan's hands.

"We probably shouldn't drink the tea." Katara murmured. Riku had given her another dose of pain medication and it made her head feel like it was stuffed with cotton. Shui leaned forward and patted her knee.

"I brought extra Katara. You didn't drink all of the tea." She said. As she sat back, Katara saw her motherly smile and relaxed.

"The queen has exquisite taste; I think she'll be very pleased with what we've picked out." Iroh went on, leaning against the wall of the cart and stroking his beard.

The pair started to talk about tea and Katara glanced at Riku. She looked tense and her gaze darted, never lingering on one spot for too long. Moving her head over slightly, Katara looked at the guard. He only stared straight ahead, looking out of the open window cut into the stone wall.

Sighing, Katara leaned back and stared up at the ceiling of the cart.

There were certain things she was going to have to accept.

The cart was held at the inner ring and the guard stepped off to deal with it. He spoke to more guards and walked back onto the car, pulling the wall of stone closed behind him. As the Earthbenders pushed the car into the wall, everything went dark. Being disoriented, Katara couldn't help the small yelp as the cart shot upward instead of continuing forward.

When it breached the top of the wall, Katara blinked in the dusky light. The car went racing along the top of the rin wall, and Katara craned her neck to look out the window beside her. Holding back the strands of her hair that ripped free in the breeze, she gasped softly at the sight of the palace.

After circling around to the west side of the palace, the car stopped and sank into the wall again. As it lowered, everyone started to adjust their positions, knowing they were soon to arrive.

The light behind the wall was darker and Katara's eyes adjusted more quickly as they emerged at ground level. The Earthbenders now pushed them down the street, around the edges of a walled estate. When they reached the front, the car stopped with a new finality and the guard opened a door in the wall.

Haoran and Jiro helped Katara off as Riku stepped down holding her crutches. They all waited while Katara perched on them, taking in the massive gate in silence.

When she was done, the guard went to the door and, through a series of unseen bending, unlocked it. Pushing it open, Katara was stunned to see the garden twinkling with firelight.

Large crystals jutted up from the earth with greenery exploding at the bases. Both Ba Sing Se and Omashu were mineral rich, thus being the major reason they were the largest of the city-kingdoms, and the crystals were nearly flawless despite their size. These also had a wider array of colors than the ones in Omashu; Katara could see pinks and oranges off in the distance.

As they walked toward the main house, the settling evening brought a cool breeze. As it brushed through the garden, Katara could hear the gentle tinkling of hung crystals.

They sounded like bells.

The sound unnerved her, despite not understanding why. Xianji wore bells, which made sense now as Katara looked at the various sculptures and hanging designs of crystals. But the melodic crashing was abrasive nonetheless.

At the entrance to the main house, the wide doors were already open and Katara could see someone standing in the lit archway.

"Good evening your Majesty." Iroh said as he reached the steps first, pausing to bow. The others followed suit, with Katara teetering forward on the crutches.

"We've brought you some tea, Majesty." Shui said and held up a box, tied up in a beautifully printed handkerchief. Ruan didn't move but the guard came around and took the box from Shui as he walked up the steps to the porch.

"Thank you. Would you do me the honor of preparing it? I've heard nothing but praise for your expertise on the subject." Ruan asked and Iroh bowed again.

"Nothing would please me more." He replied.

They all walked in, with Jiro unceremoniously picking Katara up the short steps. Ruan seemed to finally notice this, having decided to ignore her hobbling down the walk, and regarded Katara coolly.

"Should I send for a chair? My last husband used one shortly before he passed." She questioned.

Katara remembered seeing the woman at Zuko's engagement ceremony. She remembered the disdain Ruan had held for Rin. Never before had Katara wanted to punch someone in the face just for simply existing.

"No, thank you, I should be fine." Katara answered. Ruan turned and they all walked into a sitting room at the front of the building.

"Dinner isn't quite ready yet, so I think tea would be lovely, don't you?" Ruan asked as they entered.

Iroh started saying some empty words while Katara made a beeline for a couch. Riku was at her elbow, helping her down. She then leaned the crutches low against the front of the couch, making a sort of ramp to elevate Katara's foot, which had begun to swell.

"I didn't think you had a servant Master Katara." Ruan commented from the other side of the room. Katara glanced down but Riku's face didn't change.

"Riku is a friend. We met in Republic City." Katara said.

"While you were fleeing from the palace, correct?" Ruan made a sound that attempted to pass as mirth. "You've certainly worried my daughter sick."

"I'm certain you'll be the first to report my health and well-being." Katara said crisply.

"It doesn't seem as though you've recovered greatly from your illness. I heard you entered the city on death's doorstep." Ruan remarked.

Gripping onto the edge of the couch, Katara could feel Riku watching her from the corner of her eye.

"My travels were more perilous than I had first expected them to be." Katara then tilted her head with a smile. "I wanted to ask, Queen Ruan, before we got much further, do you happen to have any jennamite in your garden? King Bumi introduced me to it, and I can't find it anywhere outside of Omashu."

Ruan was unphased in the topic switch and only laid her hands neatly in her lap.

"In the garden? No. Xianji did have a plant in her room that she pruned like a bonsai tree. I believe the servants have been tending it in her absence. Shall I have them cut a piece for you?" She asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to damage the princess's own crystal." Katara replied.

"Nonsense." Ruan said and held up a hand. There was no snap, no bell, but suddenly there was a servant. She bowed low behind Ruan's shoulder and the queen didn't move as she spoke.

"Please find someone who can handle gems to collect a piece of Xianji's jennamite for Master Katara." She said. The servant said nothing, but backed out of the room.

By this time, Iroh finished with the tea and Shui passed out the cups.

"Can not all Earthbenders manipulate crystals?" Katara questioned.

"No. Just as how only certain Firebenders can bend lightning, only a few Earthbenders can bend crystals. My daughter and King Bumi are rarities." Ruan said. Taking a sip of the tea, she smiled before lowering her cup.

"Xianji had wanted to be fostered in Omashu actually. She was rather fond of Bumi when she was a child." She said.

"Fostered?" Katara repeated.

"Children of noble or high ranking families are often placed in other households to curry favor." Iroh explained. "It was how-" He cut himself off and Katara could tell he was resisting the urge to look at Riku.

It was how Mai and Ty Lee had come to stay with Azula in the palace.

"The practice dates back to feudal times, and was more often than not used as punishment." Riku added, her mouth forming a thin line when she was done speaking.

"Where did Xianji foster?" Katara inquired.

"Here in Ba Sing Se." Ruan replied and took another sip. "I was unable to join her, as I had my own kingdom to run, but I know Long Feng took care of her."

"I know that name." Riku said absently. "Why do I know that name?"

"Well, he was the head of the Dai Li, dear." Shui said and Riku frowned. "They were the cultural defenders here."

Riku's frown deepened and Katara drank uneasily from her cup.

Another servant entered and this time, he whispered into Ruan's ear as he bowed. Ruan nodded and then waved him away.

"The table is ready." Ruan said and stood. They all rose, Katara holding onto Riku as she came to her feet shaikly. As she fumbled with the crutches, Riku leaned in close.

"This is bad." She whispered.

"I have an idea. You'll have to follow my lead." Katara whispered back.

"You better not get me killed."

"Not tonight."

Riku smirked and walked beside her as they trailed after the others.

Ruan's estate was large but not palatial. The dining room housed a long table that could easily seat twenty, and so they all ended up at one end. It was awkward, seeing the vast expanse of empty surface, and Ruan only peered briefly down the length of the table.

"I apologize for the setting. I hadn't expected such a retinue when I sent out my earlier invitation." She said and Katara watched as Shui's face reddened.

"It's for my own comfort, Queen Ruan." Katara said and paused to smile at the servant who deposited a plate before her.

"How does the honorable Iroh's mistress bring you comfort?" Ruan questioned. Shui's face grew even redder and Katara made a show of her astonishment.

"Yong Rin is one of my closest friends and had told me long ago that if I was ever in need, that I should go to her mother." Katara said and put a hand out on the table, reaching toward Ruan. "Because of course, you know why I had to flee the city."

"No Master Katara, I cannot say that I do." Ruan replied dryly.

Katara shook her head and slid her hand back, sitting back in her seat.

"Surely you've heard of Ozai's Army?" She questioned.

Iroh's face went blank, stunned as he was by her question. Ruan only looked mildly intrigued.

"A group of disgruntled noblemen if I recall." She said.

"They seek to depose Zuko and I don't want to imagine what they would do to his bride." Katara forcibly shuddered and Ruan's brow tightened.

"How could you possibly know more about that group than I do?" Ruan said.

Katara stilled, becoming more serious. "So we are to speak plainly then?"

"Your acting skills are not preferable as an alternative."

Katara paused to look at Iroh, who only stared openly back at her.

"I know a lot more about the city because of the reason why I had to leave it." She began and turned to face Ruan again. "I'm very close to Zuko and they don't like that. I have reason to believe that the Hirasawas were trying to frame your daughter by causing injury to my friends and me. Luckily, I was able to escape, though not unscathed."

"That would be very uncharacteristic of the Hirasawas." Ruan stated.

"Why, because they've allied with Xianji?" Katara scoffed and shook her head again. "Because they've never acted in their own self-interest before?"

Ruan was silent, as was everyone at the table.

"Where are the Hirasawas now?" Katara asked.

Ruan stared at her.

"We don't know." She finally admitted.

And there was the gambit. If Ruan knew about what Xianji was doing, was in fact the reason behind it, she would know that the excuse of Ozai's Army was completely false. If not, then it was completely feasible. Either way, she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"Once I reach Aang, we'll head back and clear out the dissenters. Just in time for the wedding." Katara said and then looked down at her plate. "This looks delicious, Queen Ruan, what is it?"

Ruan was reserved for the meal but didn't bring up any needling questions. That wasn't to say she was polite, and they all managed to come under fire for some infraction or inadequacy. Neither Riku nor Katara bothered over it; Katara because she couldn't afford to get riled, and Riku because she probably didn't care what anyone else thought of her.

They just focused on finishing the meal and getting out as quickly as possible.

When the meal was over and Iroh managed to free themselves from after dinner conversation, they all hurried to the front door. A servant stopped Katara, handing her a green shard. As she took it, it grew with a loud groan and Katara jumped, almost dropping it.

"Thank you." She said as she pocketed the jennamite. The servant only bowed and stayed still till Katara awkwardly turned and went limping after the group.

It was another stone car that took them back, though the Benders and guard looked different. They were all quiet on the trip and, in the darkness, allowed themselves to look as they felt. Pulling the jennamite out of her pocket, Katara snapped off a piece and leaned over, handing it to Riku. She took it absently while Katara reclined, slipping a shard into her own mouth.

Creeping crystal tasted like an ice cube made of sugar and without the chill. It was hard, but escaped feeling like a rock by the sheer fact that it started to dissolve as soon as it hit her tongue. Instead, it gave the sensation of a melting ice cube, but obviously held no other similar properties.

Katara thought about crystals, and the smooth,poreless crating of each shard. It's how she escaped without any stickiness from Bumi's trick, and how she hadn't even been able to smell the sugar.

She also thought about the crystals she couldn't eat. The ones formed under the city by high heat and shifting pressure. She remembered Zuko there and the first moment she believed he actually had a heart.

Katara leaned back in her seat and looked at Riku.

Azula had ruined everything in that moment. She had pushed Zuko into an impossible corner and had nearly killed Aang. Now she sat with a round face, and neatly cropped hair, pensively turning a shard of jennamite in her mouth.

Exiting the car was done more hastily than when they arrived at Ruan's manor. Shui's sons once again trundled Katara off while Riku grabbed her crutches. Now, they just continued into the tea house, only stopping to set her down at the same table they had occupied a few hours earlier.

"Kanda will come for you at dawn. So rest and we'll pack everything up." Iroh said, his voice a low whisper.

"The queen will be watching us by then." Riku said, setting the crutches against the table. "If she's not set one on us already."

"Kanda will ensure your escape, don't worry." Iroh said and then went on with a smile. "I trained her myself."

Riku frowned and Katara knew her view of the woman was tainted. Whatever the Mother of Faces had taken, traces of Azula's hatred ran far deeper than expected.

"Where do we go from here?" Katara asked. Iroh sighed heavily as he sat down across from her.

"You need to go somewhere safe. The White Lotus can protect you, and I think Bumi would be your best option." He said.

"She's running out of time and you want to send her further inland?" Riku questioned, moving to stand behind Katara's shoulder.

"This will require resources that you simply do not have." Iroh stated. "The entire capital city is shut down and not even Piandao can get in to see what's happening. The princess is gathering her strength and you are crippled."

"Which is why we need a healer." Riku said. She then slapped lightly at Katara's shoulder. "Where's that Avatar you were talking about?"

"I don't know." Katara replied.

"Have you heard from him at all?" Iroh asked.

Katara hesitated and saw Shui usher her sons up the stairs to the family quarters. She looked small and matronly, tired in a weathered way that only mothers could look. With one lingering look, Shui gave Katara a sort of grimace, her hand resting on the banister.

"Not since he took the egg to the Sun Warriors." Katara said, turning back to Iroh. From behind her, she heard Shui start up the stairs.

"There was a sage," Katara added. "In Republic City. I think she can help."

"It's too risky to send you back there." Iroh said, shaking his head.

"So we have nothing." Riku stated. Iroh regarded her and Katara watched his face.

"You have each other." He said and then looked back at Katara. "You just have to protect each other."

Riku helped Katara back to Rin's room. Standing uneasily on one crutch, Katara stayed quiet as Riku untied the sash to her dress. It didn't bother her, these moments of subservience, and it puzzled Katara.

Until she imagined what her home life must be. Riku was, now, an older sister. There must have been times when she was tasked with helping Kiyi dress. All of these instances of assistance were familial and natural; the sort of thing a normal person would do had they grown up in a loving family.

"Thank you, Riku." Katara said softly as she sat on the bed and tugged off her dress. Riku was quiet as she brought over normal clothes, including pants with a wide leg. They'd have to sleep in travelling clothes. Dawn would come far sooner than either of them would like.

"If you really want to save the Fire Lord, you know you're going to have to stop being so useless." Riku said as she helped slide a pant leg over Katara's cast.

"There's not really a whole lot I can do like this." She snapped in reply.

"You walked with the Avatar, are friends with spirits, and you're really going to say you believe you can't fix this?" Riku stood and gestured down at Katara. "You really are pathetic."

"I am not-" Katara heard her voice rise and snapped her mouth shut. "You don't know anything."

"I know what it's like to want to die." Riku said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't want to die." Katara huffed, yanking her pants up over her hips and tying them.

"This entire time I've only ever seen you whine and cry over your hair, or the Fire Lord, or Waterbenders in a soup shop. Those veins have attached you to a rotting thing and you're just letting it happen because you don't have your boyfriend or your home." Riku retorted.

"What do you care?" Katara shot back.

"The whole world is about to fall apart and you're too busy being useless to even think of a plan. I'm the one that dragged you this far. Without me, you'd just rot into some purple lump and cry about how no one loves you."

"I've lost everything and-"

"And I haven't?"

Katara stopped, feeling the silence quiet her body and she looked away from Riku.

"My mind was taken from me. For good reason, sure, but I'm not getting that back." Riku sat down on the bed next to Katara and they still didn't face each other. "You have a chance to get back what you lost. You need to start fighting for it. I know I would never give up on getting what I wanted as long as there were ways to get it."

Katara scoffed and Riku sighed.

"Your memories make it difficult for me to be your friend." Riku murmured.

Katara sat up, feeling chilled, and turned abruptly to look at Riku.

"You want to be friends?" She questioned.

Her face red, Riku still shifted to look at Katara.

"Of course. People like having friends you know." She said with a huff.

Katara chuckled and Riku glared at her.

"Sorry. It's just," Katara let out an easy breath and smiled. "I never thought we'd actually be friends."

"Well, at least the fat man was right about something." Riku said. "We do have each other."

Katara lay in the bed with Riku breathing softly beside her. The room still smelled like earth and dust, the combative forces of life and neglect. The window beside the bed was open and the cooling night breeze swirled everything together. Katara wondered if Rin had fallen asleep like this; her tea plants happily tended and the smell of sun baked rock wafting in from the street. Rock and dirt, the environment both inert and lively all depending on what was needed. Everything was sculpted in the Earth Kingdom.

It was reflected in their Benders, though it was the same everywhere. The Earthbenders crafted their bodies, the Air Nomads were lithe enough to toss about with ease, and the Waterbenders were liquid pools with heavy centers.

Firebenders were matchsticks. Crackling with molten cores, they were dormant volcanoes at best, a wildfire at worst.

Turning her head, Katara looked at Riku. She had been used, though her flame had been snuffed before it consumed all her. But it left her withered and fragile. A rough touch would leave nothing but a soot smear behind.

With a light hand, Katara lifted a lock of Riku's hair, tucking it behind her ear.

At least they had each other.


	25. Fog and Shadow

Suki trudged up the stone steps feeling unbearably heavy. Prince Amaqjuaq was fully under Xianji's control and had sent back a favorable letter to the North Pole. Worse, she had just learned that Katara had surfaced in Ba Sing Se. Xianji's mother would get her soon enough, and there would be no one else out there who could help, except for Aang. And Suki wasn't even sure if he knew what was even happening.

Stopping just behind the secret door, Suki leaned against it to hear for any footsteps or voices. With only silence, she pushed open the door just a crack and peered about.

There was something in the hall, low to the ground.

Opening the door wider, Suki saw the fox from last week, its three tails swishing in synchrony. It resembled a fire fox, but was larger and the red fur was more tawny. With a twitch of an ear, the fox stood, easily the size of a wolf, and tilted its head for a moment. Then it turned, and darted down the hall.

Feeling her pulse quicken, Suki took in a sharp breath. It would be risky to run around the palace. And nights when their group met were always more fraught than others.

But the fox had to be a sign.

Moving light on her feet, Suki chased after the fox, keeping close to the corners as she turned. The three tails twitched like lures and Suki ran to catch them.

Finally, after moving into the front part of the palace, the fox leaned toward a wall and leaped into an open window, pausing to look back. Suki swore as it jumped out; staying in the palace was risky but being caught outside was even worse. Yet she pushed herself out of the window, landing quietly on the grass.

A fog had moved in as the moon rose and it made the reddish fur of the fox stand out. Suki chased it, watching it move further and further into the fog bank till it disappeared. Stopping, Suki caught her breath and turned around, not even sure where she was.

"Suki."

Suki whirled around, her heart hammering in her chest, as Zinna walked out of the fog.

"Where have _you_ been?" Suki questioned.

"Safely away, as you should be." Zinna answered.

"You're a Fire Nation citizen." Suki said. "You should be fine."

"I have dual citizenship. I'm a half-breed." Zinna's face didn't change and she didn't sound offended, but Suki frowned at the comment.

"The princess is from the Earth Kingdom." She countered.

"The princess is neither bisexual nor a commoner." Zinna said with a shrug. "I am an easy enough thing to get rid of."

"Well what are you doing here then?" Suki asked.

"I'm here to warn you. The princess knows about the resistance and is working on rooting you all out." Zinna said.

"How do you know?"

"I have my ways."

Out of the fog came two smaller bodies; Zinna's fire foxes.

"Will you help us?" Suki asked as she watched the foxes coil around Zinna's legs.

"I cannot. I'm leaving tonight to find a safer place. I only wanted to warn you and to ask a favor." She said.

"What's that?"

"Please save my wife."

Suki looked at Zinna and saw the pain in her face. It was the same pain Suki reflected when Sokka would slip under, unable to counter the effects of the tea. To watch someone she loved become a different person.

"I will." Suki said. Zinna smiled before turning and walking into the fog. Her firefoxes trailed after her and the shimmering curtain closed with a flourish after them. Standing alone, Suki let the moment condense around her.

Not for the first time, Suki considered kidnapping Zuko and running away. It would mean leaving everyone else at risk, and she would be betting their safety against Xianji's willingness to hold them hostage. But they could hide, just as the Warriors had done during the war.

Her feelings toward Zuko were uncomplicated. She loved him as simply as she loved Sokka, and how she knew they loved each other. They could fight but their feelings toward each other would never change. It was why Suki never minded the special relationship between the men she claimed.

But it was also why she couldn't just take Zuko and run. As soon as he came to his senses, he would want to return to Sokka.

Or go after Katara, which was just as dangerous.

Suki turned back to the palace and made her way inside. She got lucky, the halls were empty and she was able to slowly make it back to her room without incident.

One thing that bothered Suki, and that she turned over in her mind as she got ready for bed, was why Katara had popped up in Ba Sing Se. Getting to Iroh was understandable, but she must have known that other people would be able to find her. Katara could have gone to so many other places, ones that could have kept her better hidden. Like Kyoshi.

Getting into bed, Suki also returned to her missing warriors. Ty Lee was getting them out of the city and they would have to make multiple false trails heading toward Kyoshi. Hopefully it would be enough to have the princess's dogs believe they were only deserters returning home and not watch to see them head to Ba Sing Se.

Katara needed to return. Beyond just being her friend, Katara was one of the most powerful Benders in the world. She would be able to turn the tide on this invasion.

Suki turned onto her side, facing the wall. The moonlight cast pale shadows and as much as her eyes tried to make sense of the shapes, she couldn't find a pattern. They were all just meaningless splotches, splashed against the wall only because it stood in the way of the light.


	26. Physician, Heal Thyself

Katara woke to someone shaking her shoulder. She roused slowly, drawing breath in through her nose and feeling the cool air curl in her warm lungs. All of her body was warm to the point of being uncomfortable.

"It's time to go Katara." Iroh whispered. Katara took in another breath, sharper, and sat up. Riku was already at the door, a bag on her back.

"Okay." Katara said and swung her legs out of bed. Iroh helped her up and Riku got the crutches under her.

"You'll need to find a Waterbender as quickly as possible." Iroh said to Riku, who only nodded.

Following after them, Katara hobbled out into the shop and saw Kanda talking with Shui. Kanda was wearing a large cloak that covered her own bag and left her body looking bulky. It also shifted as Kanda moved and Katara saw something glint down at her side.

She was wearing a clawed gauntlet of silver.

Kanda turned as they came out and looked at the crutches with disapproval.

"It's going to be hard moving around with you on those." She stated.

"I can't imagine why." Katara replied dryly. This amused Kanda and the woman laughed.

"The house is already being watched, and we're limited in our options." Kanda looked at Iroh and sighed. "If they don't see me leave, they're going to know we went underground."

"And neither of the boys are quite as good as that Beifong girl." Shui interjected.

"If we go out with Katara like that though, it'll be easy for them to trail us." Riku said.

"Then we split the group in half. Jiro can take Katara underground." Iroh said.

"That leaves only Riku to go with Kanda. They'll be looking for three, not two." Katara said. "And even if someone goes in my place, they will have to hobble, which ends up with the same result. And we don't have the bodies for a totally false trail."

"Dawn and dusk is when people see the worst. We might be able to get away with it if we move quickly." Kanda said.

"That doesn't-" Katara started but stopped at the sudden sound coming from above them. They all froze and looked upward.

After a moment of silence, there were footsteps.

Someone was on the roof.

Kanda raised her arm, pointing the palm of her gauntlet toward the ceiling. Katara could see on the back of her hand there was a strange symbol etched.

"Move!" Riku hissed and shoved Katara over, just as the ceiling blew apart.

Kanda sent up a fire blast before the dust could settle, but a body moved out of the cloud of dust and debris. The intruder grabbed Kanda and whirled, throwing her back toward the pile of broken timber.

"Let's go!" Riku said and yanked Katara, forcing her onto her bad leg. Crying out, Katara faltered and they both went down.

"WATERBENDER!" A man's voice shouted and Katara froze, instantly breaking out in a sick sweat. She knew that voice.

"Go!" Kanda shouted just before a fireball blew through the front door. The ground beneath them surged, pushing them out as if they rode a wave. Out in the street, the wave of earth slid flat, causing the building across the way to ripple on its foundation.

"No time for subtlety." Jiro said as he and Haoran ran out into the street. The fake Dai Li jumped down as well, but were rebuffed by a wall of fire.

"Move!" Kanda yelled as she ran to them. Jiro and Haoran pulled up a slab of earth and, running much like people in the Poles did with their sleds, pushed Katara and Riku along the avenue. Sitting on the rock sled, Katara turned to look at Kanda. With her silver gauntlet, a massive fire wyrm slithered around her.

As Ruan's guard gave chase, the fire wyrm coiled up Kanda's body, readying itself for a strike. But a wave of water surged from up on the rooftops, knocking back most of the guards.

Sliding down on ice, the intruder now gained on them.

"It's-" Kanda's voice was barely audible above the sound of grinding earth and snapping ice.

But Katara knew.

"Aktuk." She finished and stared at Kanda's lowering arm. She faltered. Because she knew him.

Ice shards exploded into the ground near them, causing Jiro to swear and swerve. Riku fell to her knees and Katara grabbed her, making sure she didn't fall off.

"They're ahead!" Haoran called and Riku shoved Katara off, moving to the front of the sled.

Guards on roofs pulled up pieces of the road, forcing Jiro and Haoran to jerk their sled around the holes. Riku, constrained in her movements, shot out rapid fireballs, pushing the guards back and allowing them time to continue on.

It was early in the morning, so there were few people out on the streets, but the comotion had roused the citizens. To keep the collateral damage low, they'd have to break out of the rings as soon as possible. And the lower ring was only going to be more crowded.

"We have to get up!" Katara yelled. "It's the best way to avoid innocent people!"

"It also makes us sitting turtleducks!" Riku yelled back.

An ice shard whizzed through their group, grazing Riku's cheek. It was so sudden, Riku actually looked surprised and her face paled.

It was at that moment that their sled hit a hole in the road.

Jiro and Haoran took advantage of the lift; Jiro leaned to plant a foot down and then pushed off, launching them skyward. The movement jostled them all and Kanda yelped as she fell backward onto the sled. Already bloodless, Riku came unbalanced. Haoran pulled up a column of rock from below to push them again and it came like a shot under them.

Riku compressed at the hit, but as they started to fall in open air, she made no move to stay on the sled.

She fell.

"RIKU!" Katara screamed.

Riku came too in midair, looking furious at her predicament. Shooting bursts of flame out of her hands, she was able to turn herself over and then used her feet to create a thrust of fire. Jetting to the sled, Riku grabbed Katara's outstretched hand and extinguished her flames, swinging back onto the rock.

"What happened?" Katara demanded.

"When was the last time I fought a Waterbender?" Riku questioned. Katara opened her mouth but didn't have an answer.

"Hold on." Jiro called. "We're almost to the ring."

Having gotten them high enough, Jiro and Haoran had pulled up a thin rail of rock to run their sled, but it was being undermined by the guards that followed them. There were fewer, as Katara watched Aktuk rip them from the roofs or the street with vicious water whips. Riku kept more at bay with her truncated bending.

And Kanda was fighting Aktuk with her fire wyrm.

As they hit the ring, Jiro and Haoran yanked the sled around to run along it. If they could get to the trolley line, it would give them a better structure to use to escape. When it came into view, Kanda shouted.

Aktuk pulled back suddenly and disappeared from sight. Instead of his attacks, they know focused on the few remaining guards trying to pull them down.

"Where did he go?" Katara asked.

"I. I don't know." Kanda said, her voice tight with anxiety.

Just as Jiro and Haoran pulled the sled onto the trolley line, they found out.

A massive trunk of ice erupted just in front of them. But instead of attacking them, multiple tentacles of water snapped out and grabbed at the guards. Before they could even scream, the tentacles shot backward and the guards were smashed into the ice.

Katara could see the red blossoms even as their bodies started to fall down the trunk.

Her heartbeat shallow in her chest, Katara suddenly couldn't feel her fingers. Looking down, she saw her hands were completely purple. Tears welled in her eyes, but she was too scared to actually cry.

Ice formed on the trolley line behind them and Aktuk rushed up onto it. He rushed after them, pulling the water from behind to use as a trail of ice. Katara watched it shoot after them like veins, filling in the spaces between to allow Aktuk passage.

Kanda and Riku both shot fire at it and the water melted away, pouring down the sides.

So Aktuk, his feet frozen to the ice, simply went with it.

Riku rushed to the side of the sled and saw nothing.

"He must be underneath." She said.

"Why is he-" Kanda started but, sure enough, the trolley line crumbled in front of them.

Ice glimmered like geodes in the chunks of rock and Katara screamed as they fell. A water whip stretched out toward her, but Riku slammed a leg down, severing it with a knife of fire.

"What does he want with you?" Riku questioned.

"I got his sister killed." Katara said. "But Riku…"

Their rock sled hit the ground hard, despite Jiro and Haoran's best attempts. They kept everything stable, but Katara could feel the hit in her teeth and Riku faltered again. Grabbing each other quickly, they stayed on the sled while Jiro and Haoran pushed them forward.

The lower ring was much more congested and people shrieked as they leaped out of the way of their careening sled.

"Look! There!" Haoran said. Jiro was already turning as Katara went to look. They were close to the outer wall. Doing a bit of maneuvering that would make Toph proud, Jiro and Haoran were able to keep the sled moving while also using their bending on the wall.

It parted only inches from them, making Katara feel like they were only a breath away from impact. But the rock opened and they were suddenly out of the rings.

A boulder of ice landed in front of them and stopped their momentum.

Jiro, Haoran, and Kanda - the ones standing - all went flying. Katara and Riku only slammed into the ice. Riku went limp but Katara fought to keep conscious. Her vision blurred and shifted but she watched as Aktuk approached.

"Well now, this was unpleasant." Aktuk said, standing just at her feet. "And so unnecessary."

"Ak-tuk." Katara groaned and tried to crawl backward.

"AKTUK!"

Fire blew through the top of the ice boulder and knocked Aktuk back. Kanda shot up, fire erupting from her feet, and stood on top of it.

"This was not your mission!" Kanda yelled.

Aktuk stood, laughing even as his clothes smoked.

"This body had a mission. I do not follow your orders, human." He said.

A piercing noise sounded above Katara and suddenly, the dirt in front of Aktuk exploded.

Kanda, without a tattoo, was a combustion bender.

As the dirt settled, Aktuk still stood. He laughed and pulled his arms wide. The boulder behind Katara shrieked and she watched as Kanda fell in. As Aktuk brought his arms together, fire hit him in the chest.

"STOP IT!" Riku yelled. Aktuk paused and looked at her.

"Riku, we have to go." Katara said weakly.

"That's going to be a little hard." Riku replied. Katara looked down and saw the mangled leg twisted among the broken pieces of the sled.

"No." Katara scrambled down toward it, her hands hovering above the mess of flesh and bone. "No no no no no."

The sound of crunching dirt made her sit back and tilt her head upward. Tears streamed down her face, but she felt numb. Aktuk only stared down at her.

"I have been looking for you," He said and crouched down. "Wyrmling."

Confusion bubbled in her throat and came out as laughter. It boiled in her, making her lungs burn, and she laughed so hard Katara started to hiccup.

"Where is my egg?" Aivilayoq questioned.

"Aivilayoq, you have to help me." Katara pleaded.

"I cannot. This body does not heal. Healing among his kind is for the womenfolk." Aivilayoq replied. "You must heal her."

"I can't!" Katara cried. She held up her hands and Aktuk's head tilted.

"That is spirit poison, but you can handle that." Aivilayoq said.

"No, I can't. My bending makes it worse." Katara retorted.

"Then do nothing. I can take her body and I will sustain it." Aivilayoq said. "If you want it so badly."

"But Riku will still be dead." Katara shot back.

"You have all the pieces to heal yourself, but you choose not to. You cannot have others fix your mistakes wyrmling."

"I didn't poison myself."

"You allowed the poison to take root and grow." Aivilayoq paused and looked down at Riku. "That body does not have long now."

"Aivilayoq, what do I do?" Katara asked through her tears.

"Spirits, blood, and healing. Your teachers have covered all of these things." Aivilayoq answered.  
"But you must get rid of those bindings. They stink and I do not like them."

Katara looked down at her hands and saw the dirty red thread. From the corner of her vision came a dagger hilt and Katara took it in a shaky hand.

"You are running out of time." Aivilayoq added.

Slicing through the thread, Katara freed each hand in turn. Looking up, she saw Kanda frozen in the ice boulder, her eyes moving about wildly. Turning back the way they came, Katara pulled the water, calling it to her hands.

She went to work on Riku's leg, feeling the poison creep further into her own chest. Fighting down the feeling of nausea, Katara also pulled on the threads of blood in Riku's body, stitching the broken ones back together. Set the bone, tie down the muscle, stitch the flesh. The water glowed around Katara's hands and she could feel Riku's heartbeat stabilize.

When it was done, Katara pulled more water around her cast, freezing it before slamming the butt of the dagger on it. It shattered and Katara put the pieces of her knee back together.

Her chest felt tight and her throat was closing. The poison was not infecting her blood, but merely connected to the veins. It was suffocating her.

"You must rid yourself of the poison wyrmling." Aivilayoq said.

"I can't." Katara rasped out. "It's too much."

"I can help you here." Aivilayoq said and held out Aktuk's hand. Still unsure, Katara hesitated before placing her hand down in it.

Blue light erupted from Aktuk's palm and Katara screamed. She could feel the spiritual energy, so similar to the storm she had calmed in the Spirit World. It flooded into her, as little as it was, and Katara could feel the cold heat of it in her.

Gritting her teeth, she placed it in her heart. With her bending, she moved her fingers over the veins and arteries in her chest. Even through her shirt, she could see the blue light glowing under her skin. It trailed down the lines she traced, and Katara caressed her own neck, drawing the blue energy lovingly upward. Then, like pulling off a glove, Katara led the energy into her fingers. It pooled there, an uncomfortable pressure, and she circled it all back to hold in her chest.

"What now?" She asked.

"You have to pull it from your body. Humans have plenty of holes, figure it out." Aivilayoq answered.

As crude as the dragon was, it wasn't that simple. The poison had bound itself to her blood. It would have to come out the same way blood did.

The dagger made easy work of it, and Katara pulled the knot of poison out like a bezoar.

The knot unfurled itself and, strengthened as it was by Aivilayoq's energy, turned into a snarling tizheurk, its jaws snapping at her. As it lunged, Aktuk's hand snatched it and his jaw opened wider than any human's ought. Aivilayoq stuffed the spirit into his mouth and snapped it shut. The screaming spirit went silent as Aktuk swallowed.

"Now," Aivilayoq said. "Where is my egg?"

"That's not-" Katara groaned and rubbed her face. She was exhausted. "We have to deal with her."

They both turned to Kanda and Aivilayoq pushed Aktuk's body onto his feet.

"I can tell you everything I know about this one, but I do not see how it will help." Aivilayoq said.

"Does she know anything about a princess Xianji?" Katara asked. Aktuk's head tilted again as Aivilayoq looked at Kanda.

"This body has no knowledge of Xianji, but that one might." Aivilayoq answered. "They are more preoccupied with spirits than politics."

"Then it won't-" Katara stopped as she heard voices yelling. She turned and saw three figures running toward her.

Xai Bau was with Jiro and Haoran.

"Aivilayoq, how do we get out of here?" Katara asked.

"I assume in the airship that one has over the hill." Aivilayoq replied.

"Grab Riku for me." Katara said and readied her stance. Aivilayoq picked up Riku in Aktuk's arms, standing still beside Katara.

"Here we go." Katara muttered.

She pulled on the ice boulder, melting it as she went but still holding Kanda in it. Xai Bau had slowed when Katara took her stance, so she was able to slam the water into him without worrying about Jiro and Haoran. As soon as she made contact with Xai Bau, Katara froze the water and took off, running toward Jiro and Haoran.

They stood, confused and staring at what Katara had done.

"What happened?" Jiro asked.

"How are you running?" Haoran added as Katara sprinted up to them. Aivilayoq followed quickly behind, holding Riku's unconscious body.

"Where is the ship?" Katara demanded. Without another word, Jiro turned and set off. They all followed and Aivilayoq hummed happily.

"The ice is thinner, so the woman will be getting them free soon." She said.

"Then we need to wake up Riku." Katara said.

They ran up the hill and Katara could feel the muscles in her legs burning. She could see the envelope from behind the hilltop and as she crested it, could see the ship. It was easier to run down and they made it to the ship quickly.

Aivilayoq got Riku on board and Katara turned to Jiro and Haoran.

"You have to come with us. You'll be safe in Omashu." She said.

"Why?" Jiro asked.

"Xai Bau and Kanda are the bad guys." Katara said.

"Really, because I only remember that guy attacking us." Haoran shot back and pointed at Aivilayoq.

"I only wanted to capture the Waterbender. I do not particularly care for the rest of you." She said.

Katara groaned and slapped her hand to her face.

"I can explain on the way but you two have to get on, now." She said with finality.

"I have awoken the Firebender." Aivilayoq announced. Katara crouched down by Riku's head and touched her arm.

"Riku?" She asked. Riku blinked and looked around before settling on Katara.

"What happened?" She questioned.

"No time. Can you light the airship?"

"Sure. But," Riku paused as she pushed herself up onto an arm. "Where's Kanda?"

"No time." Katara repeated and Riku met her eye.

Looking pained, Riku stood and went to the burner. Jiro and Haoran climbed into the small airship and the space was tight. Riku got the burner going quickly and Katara got the others to help her free the weights. As they started to lift skyward, Katara could see two figures moving toward them.

The shriek seemed to come after the explosion, and the shockwave buffeted the ship. They all slammed down, sliding across the floor, but Riku got back onto her feet and went to the controls. A natural, Riku quickly steered the ship higher and accelerated it forward. It would still take time to get out of Kanda's range, and Katara knew that it was only a moment before Kanda took to the sky herself.

Pulling water from the clouds, Katara sent it down at the pair. She wrapped it around both of them, freezing them in tight coils.

"That will hold them till we're out of range." She stated and sat down heavily on the floor of the ship.

"So can you tell us what just happened?" Jiro questioned.

"He's actually a dragon named Aivilayoq that I'm quest bound to while Xai Bau and Kanda are part of some conspiracy that has to do with the Spirit World. It has nothing to do with the reason why I ended up in Ba Sing Se in the first place, but it looks like the convergence actually helped us escape." Katara explained briefly.

"He killed people." Jiro said.

"He almost killed us!" Haoran added.

"But that was unintentional. I simply do not care about your lives while the others had decided to end them." Aivilayoq said.

"You're not helping." Katara muttered.

"Again, I do not care." Aivilayoq replied. "Humans are trivial creatures."

"Shapash certainly doesn't think so." Katara snapped. Aktuk's face smoothed out and his chin lifted.

"Yes, but my wife is a brilliant spirit with a great capacity to love even the most mundane things. Still," Aivilayoq sighed. "I do think she would want me to treat humans better. I will consider it, for her and for you."

"Why thank you, you're too kind." Katara grumbled.

"Katara, what you saw in the village, was anything familiar?" Riku asked. Katara turned to her and frowned.

"You mean who I saw?" She asked and Riku nodded. Katara sighed and looked down at her hands. The skin was clear and brown again.

"Yes." She answered finally.

Kanda had been the one at the village and who attacked her. And, after seeing the fire wyrm she had conjured, was probably the mysterious spirit that burned the village in the first place.

"Why can't we go home?" Jiro asked.

"Because you could expose Xai Bau. This way, he can say that Aktuk, the, uhm, body Aivilayoq is in, that he took us all." Katara replied. "He'd probably kill you otherwise."

"So we go to Omashu and then what?" Haoran inquired.

"I have to get to Zuko. If we don't manage to save him, Ruan is going to end up owning half the world." She said.

"And does this have anything to do with Xai Bau?" Haoran asked.

"No."

"Isn't he a bigger concern?"

"Of course not." Riku interjected. "He's a problem the White Lotus can take care of. We just tell King Bumi about it, and they'll handle it. This issue with the Fire Lord has much wider implications than one murderous nut job."

Haoran and Jiro exchanged a look but kept quiet. Riku huffed and sat down next to Katara.

"We have enough fuel for the trip and the food should hold out as long as we ration it since we don't have Kanda's bag." She said. Her voice was thick and Katara touched her arm lightly. Riku still shied away.

"I'm sorry." Katara whispered, apologizing for more than she could ever hope to amend for Riku.

"It's fine." Riku replied, looking up at the burner.

"So," Jiro said. "Anybody know any good stories?"


	27. Epilogue

A woman stood, her long black hair and long red sleeves rippling in the air. She watched him as he struggled toward her. Her face was as pale as a ceramic, her lips as red as blood, and her eyes as dark as coal. It hurt to look at her. The severity of her face was as blinding as the sun.

Zuko could feel the sweat on his body as he reached out. The woman, unmoving but floating, beckoned to him. She called him.

"Please help me." He whispered hoarsely. The woman stayed quiet and only regarded him.

"Who are you talking to Zuko?"

Zuko's arm dropped, then he lowered his head.

Of course the spirit wasn't real.

"Now Zuko, it seems you've been keeping secrets."

Zuko turned and sat up in his bed to look at Xianji. No matter the hour, she always looked freshly pressed. The lines of her robes were crisp and her face was fresh, with only a hint of cosmetics. It must have been well past midnight and she could have been bringing him lunch. Zuko questioned if she slept.

"I've told you everything." He said, his voice low. Xianji smiled and put her hands in her sleeves.

"Maybe you just forgot." She said with a smile, tilting her head and making the crystals braided in her hair clatter. "Let me remind you."

The sound of bells made Zuko wince and he only looked back when they stopped. The servant carrying the tea tray was normal.

Prince Amaqjuaq was not.

Zuko felt the blood drain from his head and he sank back against his pillows, his mouth open in shock.

"The prince and I have had wonderful conversations." Xianji said and patted Amaqjuaq's arm. "I can see why my mother wanted me to marry him."

"What." Zuko started but couldn't go on. He knew what had been said. What Xianji now knew.

"I had always wondered why you were in the Poles, even after our delightful chat. What could possibly pull such a responsible and diligent Fire Lord away from his throne, right after his sister had died under such mysterious circumstances? I mean," Xianji paused, raised a thin hand to her mouth, and laughed briefly. "No monarch would ever do such a thing!"

"None of this changes things. None of it matters." Zuko replied.

"Oh it most certainly does, Fire Lord. It changes things quite a lot." Xianji looked up at Amaqjuaq and examined him. She looked like a doll next to the prince, but Amaqjuaq's eyes were glazed and distant.

"Before, I thought there was only some troublesome mice in the halls. But now, knowing that the Fire Lord's _lover_ is out there, well." Xianji looked back at Zuko. "We can't have her come dashing back in here and ruin our wedding can we?"

"You can't touch her. You know you can't." Zuko said with urgency.

"Oh Zuko, you should know by now that we can do anything we want. We just have to wait for the right time. Afterall, isn't that what you did with Azula? Waited for the right time?"

Zuko clenched his jaw, feeling the tendon roll.

"Amaqjuaq would be an agreeable husband I think. And once everyone is safely wedded, I think my mother and I would agree that the tea would no longer be necessary. Everyone is far too honorable to cause a fuss over some marriages." Xianji stated.

The servant stepped forward and Xianji waved her on.

"Have some tea, Zuko. We have to talk about your little girlfriend." She said.

A/N: Balanced will return on AUGUST 15 for Part 2! The whole thing will be written and post weekly, so no more waiting a year to read it all. In the meantime, I'll be posting one shots here, drabbles on Tumblr, and There is no War in Ba Sing Se will still be updating weekly! Thank you for reading, I love you!


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